Cloaks and Crackers
by dismaynight
Summary: She could win me over with nothing more than cloaks and crackers. / KH1-2, slight AU, OC, Axel pairing
1. 01

The Nobody whistled as he walked down one of the many corridors of the Castle That Never Was. His hood down, a mane of thick, spiky red hair could be seen, as well as a face with contradicting eyes the color of a green ocean.

This Nobody was on a mission. It was a small, lesser mission, but a mission nonetheless, and when a member of Organization XIII had a mission, they were expected to complete it. His mission, whether he liked it or not, was to deliver another mission to the oh-so-annoying Larxene.

His feet carried him to the end of the hallway, where Larxene's door -- pink, black and white -- stood. A sign hung from the doorknob that said "GET AWAY FROM THIS AREA NOW" in large, bold calligraphy. _Easy to tell who made it_, Axel thought as he knocked on the door.

No reply was heard. He knocked again. There was a muffled click from the other side, but the door did not open. Axel rolled his eyes and opened the door -- what was the worst that Larxene could do to him, anyway?

A figure in a black cloak stood next to a pure white desk, fumbling with something. Its back was turned to Axel, but he thought he knew who it was.

"Yo, Larxene," he said, raising an envelope to eye-level. "Xemnas has a mission for you."

The figure slowly turned around, and Axel instantly knew that it was not who he had thought it was. The figure was female, yes, but it wasn't Larxene at all. The hood was up, but one pale eye, a small nose, and pink, cracked lips were visible, a strand of light brown hair dangling over her cheek. She wore the Organization cloak -- minus the gloves -- so Axel could only guess that she was the new recruit Demyx had been babbling about the night before.

"Oh, sorry," Axel apologized. "I was looking for…. Wait, why are you in Larxene's room?" Axel noticed her hands suspended in the act of zipping up her cloak.

The girl just stared at him. Axel couldn't help but feel a little perturbed, but shook it off and rolled his eyes, taking his leave and closing the door softly behind him.

_Weird_, he thought, and began his mission again.

He didn't find Larxene until he tried the Courtyard, but was greeted with her screaming about interrupting her training time. She did take the envelope eventually, and Axel made a mental note never to accept a mission involving Larxene again. He _hated_ her.

On his way back to his room, he passed the pale-eyed girl in the hallway. It was rather strange, actually; as he walked by, he felt the strangest sensation in his chest that he could only describe as a quick water-like swish in the very middle of his chest cavity, like his heart had returned and was swimming around mockingly in his blood. It was enough of a physical shock to stop him in the middle of the hallway. He could hear the girl's slow footsteps. He turned around.

There was a sort of fleeting flicker of pink light that he thought he saw around the girl like an aura -- but perhaps it was just Axel's imagination -- and then she disappeared around the corner.


	2. 02

It was after Axel had finally lain down to rest on his bed that he realized how strange the situation with the new recruit truly was. First, Xemnas had never taken the time to introduce this new Nobody, which he had done with every other member. Second, Nobodies never stay in another's room if the owner is not there, like the pale-eyed girl had done -- it was like an unspoken rule. Third, whatever that girl could do, it was nothing like what anyone else in Organization XIII could do; Axel had a strong feeling about it.

There was a knock on Axel's door.

"S'open," Axel yelled, sitting up in his bed lazily.

Demyx popped his grinning face into the room. "Hey, hey!"

Axel laughed at his spontaneity. If there was one thing Demyx was not, it was boring. "What are you up to, Dem?"

Demyx walked inside, closing the door behind him. "You know that little chick-a-dee I was talking about yesterday?"

"Uh," Axel mumbled, confused by what Demyx had called her. "The new recruit, you mean?"

"Yeah!" Demyx said, nodding extravagantly.

Axel's brow furrowed. What could be so exciting about her? "What about her?"

"Ah!" Demyx said, spinning a few times. "You have _got_ to meet her, man! She's awesome! Oh, if only you knew what her power is…!"

"Um," Axel said pointedly, causing Demyx to stop swooning. "I've met her… well, sort of. I had to give something to Larxene and that girl was in Larxene's room by herself. I asked her why she was in there… and she never said anything. Just stared."

"Heh, that does sound like her, but…. Hm," said Demyx, finger on his chin and eyes shooting upward. "Well, I'll just have to properly introduce the two of you!" So saying, Demyx ran over to Axel, pulled him up by the arm, and dragged him out of his room.

"What are you doing?!" Axel yelled at him, eyes wide. "I don't want to meet her!"

"Oh, yes you do! Trust me!"

Axel couldn't say that he had a good feeling about this -- what had happened in the hallway had been a sort of sign to Axel, telling him "stay away, danger, danger." Then again, signs hadn't scared him out of entering Larxene's room without permission, so why should this one be any different…?

They ended up in some off-hall on the side of the castle. Demyx dragged him up to the middle of the staircase there and told him to wait. He promptly ran off, leaving Axel alone.

"Well, great," Axel mumbled to himself. "I'm alone on a staircase about to meet some freak of a Nobody because of another, more hyperactive Nobody… who, by the way, fakes way too many emotions to really be called such a thing. I swear the kid has mood swings like a human girl…. Oh, and now I'm talking to myself. Goody." He sighed, and laid back on the stairs, looking up at the white ceiling, and then at the equally white wall to his right, forcing himself to ignore the vast expanse of bright stars outside the window to his left. _If we're supposed to be such a dark, creepy, and mysterious organization, with black cloaks and everything, why is our headquarters _white_? _he thought, bored.

Then, he felt that strange sensation in his chest, that quick water-like swish, and almost immediately, Axel jumped up, ending up a few stairs below where he had been. On the landing stood Demyx and the pale-eyed girl, her hands intertwined in front of her. The feeling disappeared, and Axel could breathe again.

"Hey, hey, you alright there?" Demyx laughed. "Didn't mean to scare you!"

"Nah, I'm fine," Axel grumbled, staring at the girl.

"Well, any-who," Demyx said lightly with a wave of the hand. "Axel, this is Nalax." He gestured to the girl, whose one visible eye shifted immediately to the ground at her name. "Nalax, this is Axel!"

"Yeah…" Axel said quietly. "Got it memorized?" She said nothing, and did not move. He stared at her. She was so weird.

Demyx gestured at Axel to come up to the landing. Axel shook his head fervently. Demyx glared.

"Ah, you're such a drama king…" Axel mumbled under his breath before slowly climbing up the steps to where the two stood. When he was finally standing in front of Nalax, her eye flickered up at him before she took a step back. Axel frowned and sighed. "Look, kid, I didn't exactly want to be here either, but let's at least _pretend_ we're okay with each other… for Demyx, if nothing else," he said to her, low.

"What was that? I didn't hear you, Axel," Demyx said, leaning forward with his ear to him, to make his point.

"…Nothin'," he said, after waiting for Nalax to say something -- anything. The silence from her was so… exhausting… which was weird within itself.

"Well, Nalax doesn't talk much. I've only heard one word from her -- and that was her name!" Demyx laughed, slapping a hand on said nobody's shoulder, whose gaze was now staring blankly in front of her. "But she's really cool. You should see what she can do, too! It's amazing! But, I don't want to pressure her into showing you. I mean, she's _so_ shy about it!"

"More like shy about everything…" Axel said under his breath.

"Hmm?" said Demyx. "I didn't hear you again, man!"

Nalax's hands clenched a little, and Axel said, "Nothin'. I never said anything," as he threw his head back, sighing with his hands on his hips.


	3. 03

Over the next week, Demyx and Axel had spent almost all their time together, as they usually did, except with Nalax dragged along now. However, all that they had gotten out of her was a nod and shake of the head when they had pummeled her with questions about herself.

"Do you have a favorite color?"

_Shake._

"Do you have a favorite animal?"

_Shake._

"Are you ever going to put your hood down?"

…_Shake._

"Is Xemnas going to put you on missions like everyone else?"

_Nod._

"Has he already given you a mission?"

_Nod._

"Was it exciting?"

_Shake._

"Did you meet any humans?"

_Nod._

"Did Xemnas _kidnap_ you and force you to join the Organization?"

_Shake._

"Did he bribe you with something?"

_Shake._

"You came here on your own, then?!"

_Nod. _

"Geez, I knew you were a freak!"

…_Blink._

Usually, after asking her so many questions, she would eventually just crack her knuckles and refuse to answer anymore. The same routine would occur the next day with a new set of questions.

So after a week of the three of them hanging out all over the castle, Luxord eventually approached the three of them with a mission from Xemnas.

"He said that since you three seem to be so good at doing nothing together, you'd be good at doing a mission together as well," Luxord explained dryly as he handed the mission envelope to Axel, before hurriedly taking his leave.

"Hm, usually he would stick around and hang out with us, wouldn't he? I wonder why he ran off," said Demyx, resting back on his elbows.

Axel shrugged, glanced at Nalax (who was, of course, staring blankly at the wall in front of her), and read the note aloud:

"To Axel, Demyx, and Nalax: From nine o'clock tonight to two o'clock tomorrow morning, you will be in Hollow Bastion, on patrol. Do not kill or destroy anything. Stay together. If there are any keyblades, or keyblade wielders, come immediately back here and report to me. Avoid any fighters of Heartless, and if they do come in contact with you, temporarily incapacitate them. Do not interact with humans. Do nothing more, and make sure you keep your lesser Nobodies away from the world. Xemnas."

"Hm," said Demyx. "Just patrol and look-out? So boring. But at least we don't have to fight anything." Demyx smiled, raising his fists in the air triumphantly… forgetting that his arms had been propping him up. He rubbed the new bump on the back of his head sourly.

Axel shook his head at him, chuckling, and stood. "I kind of wish we did get to fight something, though. I haven't sparred in two weeks…. I don't want to get rusty," he admitted, leaning back to pop his spine loudly. "Not to mention, we're going to be just walking around some quiet, dusty little world for _five straight hours!_ Sucks!"

"Well, hey, hey, at least we won't be walking around alone," Demyx said, standing and helping Nalax to her feet as well. "He told us to stay together, right?"

"Eh, I guess," Axel said lower, glancing down at Nalax. She still gave him that strange feeling in his chest for a second every time he saw her -- he did _not_ like that feeling. It was too bittersweet -- it was like having a heart again for just a split second, which was really a cruel feeling to a Nobody. And he didn't even know why it happened. It was not something he could control, so he knew it had to be Nalax doing it, and not his imagination or something -- whether it was deliberate or not remained unknown, however.

Axel glanced at Demyx, who was grinning with his arms behind his head. "I'm kind of excited!" he laughed. "What time is it?"

"8:30," said Axel, looking at the sideways clock on the wall.

"Alright! Oh, let's go now and get some ice cream before the mission!"

"Ice cream?" Axel said incredulously, though the idea did appeal to him. "How do you intend to do that? We can't exactly walk up to some innocent ice cream shop in our Organization cloaks. Besides, we're supposed to stay away from humans, remember?"

Demyx laughed. "Oh, you worry too much. Come on, man! I'll take care of getting the ice cream."

So saying, Demyx opened a corridor of darkness and dragged Axel and a squinty Nalax into it after him.

One minute later, Demyx had them sitting on top of a tall building in the town square. Five minutes later, Demyx had returned with three Sea Salt ice cream bars.

"This is the greatest stuff in the world!" Demyx exclaimed, handing a bar to Axel and Nalax each. "Well, besides music, of course… oh, and my sitar… and sleeping…! Well, it's the greatest _food_ in the world, anyways!"

Axel shook his head, smiling. "This hardly qualifies as food."

"Eh, junk food, then. What's the difference?"

They both glanced at Nalax, then, who was staring at her ice cream in absolute bewilderment.

"It's ice cream, Nalax… you eat it," said Demyx hesitantly, who was most likely thinking the exact same thing as Axel at that moment. _She doesn't know what ice cream is?!_

She opened her mouth, but closed it just as suddenly. Then, she poked the ice cream with her forefinger.

Axel leaned towards her, grabbing the hand that held the bar and forcing her to put the ice cream to her mouth. Her visible eye was impossibly wide. Axel let go of her and went to eating his own ice cream as if nothing had happened.

"Ah…" said Nalax as she pulled the ice cream away.

Both Demyx's and Axel's heads turned to her in shock.

Nalax closed her eyes and bit into her bar hungrily.

Demyx swallowed. "D-… do you like it… Nalax?" he asked, surprised but excited.

Axel stared at her. She never answered Demyx, but instead was busy chipping away at her ice cream bar. He had never seen her so animated before. She was always so silent, always barely moving -- even her walk seemed more like a glide than anything else. She never showed any emotion (like any typical Nobody), always staring blankly at whatever happened to be in front of her. And now….

"Nalax," said Axel. Her visible eye darted in his direction. "You are such a weirdo."

Her mouth twisted, but then she turned attention back to her ice cream once more. "Mm," she said, making it obvious that she thoroughly enjoyed the treat.

Axel shook his head and went back to his own. With a laugh, Demyx soon followed suit.


	4. 04

Nalax had finished her ice cream in five minutes flat, Axel and Demyx taking five minutes longer with theirs as she went back to her usual staring off at something.

When all three were finished, they stood and jumped down the fire escape back to the ground. It was nine o'clock.

"Alrighty!" Demyx exclaimed. "Let's get going!"

"Where to?" said Axel, eyes closed and scratching the back of his head.

"Hey, wanna race to the top of the Castle over there?! Whoever gets there last has to prank Zexion when we get back!"

Nalax shook her head immediately.

Axel pointed his thumb at her. "I'm with Nalax on this one, Dem," he said, walking off towards the Construction area beside the Castle with said Nobody.

"Aw." Demyx slumped over, frowning, and followed them.

There were almost no people out on the streets of Hollow Bastion, which was surprising, considering how big this place was said to be. Axel guessed it was because the world was beginning to become infested with Heartless; seeing as the keyblade was supposed to be the only thing capable of vanquishing the creatures for good, it was actually fairly smart for the people of Hollow Bastion to stay inside most of the time. They'd be losing hearts right and left, otherwise.

By the time the Sun disappeared behind the horizon, any signs of life in the town had gone completely. All lights were out, all people were inside their homes, and even the wind seemed to stop blowing.

"Geez," Demyx whispered. "This place is so creepy, man." He shivered to prove his point.

"Eh, it's just still and quiet. Creepy would be if something started breathing down the back of your neck," Axel said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, that is very true…"

"And it's pointless to whisper, Demyx, everyone here is probably already asleep. Plus, we're around the outskirts of the town."

"Oh, yeah. Eh-heh, sorry…." But Demyx still seemed a little unsettled.

Axel smirked suddenly, but wiped it away as fast as it had appeared. "Hey, uh, I'm going to go look for a drink of water… I'm really thirsty. I'll meet you guys at the entrance of the Construction area."

Demyx's eyes widened, as if scared to have any smaller of a group. "Oh -- okay. Um, see you in a bit then." So saying, Demyx and Nalax walked off.

Once they had turned the corner, Axel climbed up on top of a house, leaping from roof to roof to follow them without being seen. He quietly chuckled to himself -- oh, he was so mean to Demyx.

Grinning, he reached the entrance before they did. He watched as they arrived, Demyx making wide hand gestures, obviously talking about how dark, quiet, and creepy the place was. They stopped at the entrance, Demyx still talking, Nalax unmoving, and Axel's grin grew wider as he pulled his hood up.

Silently, he jumped down behind Demyx and got as close as he could without touching him. Then, he breathed deeply against the back of Demyx's neck. Instantly, Demyx stopped talking and froze altogether, before jumping, screaming at the top of his lungs, and tripping over himself in attempt to scramble away. Axel couldn't contain his laughing fit.

"YOU! GET AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T TASTE GOOD!" Demyx screamed, eyes closed and finger pointing at what he must have thought was a monster.

"Dem -- ahahahaha -- De-m-myx… it's me, aha -- Axel! Ahahahaa!" Axel could barely talk through his laughter -- the look on Demyx's face had been positively _priceless._

"Wha-" Demyx began, confusion littering his features before Axel tossed his hood back, "Oh, you total jerk! I coulda swore you were a… uh, well…. Anyways! YOU SUCK!"

Axel calmed down a bit after another moment. "Aha, I'm sorry, Demyx, I just had to do it. I couldn't pass up the chance!" And with that, Axel gave in to another round of laughter before he wiped the corner of his eye and straightened up. He walked over to a glaring Demyx and helped him up. "Really, I'm sorry. I'm sure you probably would have done it, too, though."

Demyx chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, probably." Demyx turned towards Nalax. "Heh, did you know he was behind me, Nalax? Uh… Nalax? Are you okay?"

She was shaking with her back against the stone wall, hand covering her mouth. Axel and Demyx approached her. No sound from her, of course, but she was definitely trembling.

"Hey, Nalax, did I really scare you that bad?" Axel put his hand on her shoulder, his other hand outstretched towards hers. "I'm sorry…. Hey, stop trembling, I'm really -- are you crying?!"

Something wet glittered on her hand in the moonlight, but he couldn't see either of her eyes. Suddenly, she fell forwards onto Axel's chest, still shaking, but much less tense. Axel put his arms across her shoulders as Demyx walked up beside her, rubbing her back soothingly.

"Why did that scare you so bad, Nalax? I mean, he was breathing on _my_ neck… you were right in front of me," Demyx said quietly. "Did you think he was some Heartless, or --"

Nalax nodded at that.

"Ah," said Axel. "Well, even if I had been a Heartless, I bet you could have taken me on easily."

Her shoulders jumped, as if laughing.

Demyx smiled. "Yeah, and at least you didn't think it was the Man-eating Hollow Bastion Monster from the sewers come to eat you alive, like I did!"

"_Man_-eating?" Axel said, smirking. "Well, then, it wouldn't have eaten you anyways, Demyx."

"Wha-- hey, hey! Not cool, man!"

"Just joking." Axel smiled, and Nalax pulled away from him, wiping her glistening hands on her cloak.

"You all good now, chick-a-dee?" Demyx smiled.

Nalax's stomach growled.

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Hm… I didn't know Nobodies' stomachs could growl. Mine never does."

"Well, that's because _your_ stomach is the size of a one G of munny," Demyx said nonchalantly, waving him off with a hand and careless expression as Axel frowned. "Let's go look for something to eat. I'm kind of starved, myself."


	5. 05

After half an hour of returning to the town square instead of exploring the Construction area, they arrived. Demyx and Axel went to opposite corners to see if they could find any food lying around, while Nalax sat in the middle of the courtyard, blank. Soon Demyx began to wave around some package as he ran to where Nalax sat. "I found some crackers!" So saying, he opened up the package and sat by her.

Axel's head rose from the barrel he had been searching. _Crackers?_ he thought as he walked over to join them. _Well, if they're happy with it, why should I care? I really doubt it'll fill them up enough, though._

Axel dropped to sit in the empty space of their little circle. Demyx handed each of them three large crackers before happily gnawing away at his. Axel looked his over -- they were _graham_ crackers. _Kiddie food, _he thought. _What, are we aging backwards now? As if we aged in the first place…._ Sighing, he took a bite of it anyways, leaning back on one hand.

He noticed Nalax rather enjoying her graham crackers -- even more so than the ice cream, even, minus the verbal form of showing her enjoyment. Demyx seemed to notice too, as he commented, chuckling, "Are you kidding me, Nalax? You really like the crackers more than the Sea Salt ice cream?!" He laughed.

She nodded excitedly, still chewing.

Axel laid his head back, rolling his eyes with a smile and chuckling. "So weird."

Nalax laid down as she finished the last bite, hand on top of her head to make sure her hood didn't move and eye staring up at the stars. Axel looked at her, brow raised, before shrugging and lifting the arm that propped him up to join her. Demyx chuckled a little and did the same.

"It's such a big sky!" he exclaimed in awe.

"There are so many worlds out there… we couldn't count them all even if we wanted to," mumbled Axel, who saw Nalax nod then out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah," Demyx agreed. "Kinda' makes you wonder which one you were created on, huh?"

"Hm," said Axel, moving his hands behind his head. Axel remembered where his Other had been born. He didn't remember what the place was called -- his Other had had a _terrible_ memory, which was not good, considering he studied the billions of stars -- but he did remember that it had a beach with an observatory, and it was raining all the time. Heat was hard to come by there, for when it wasn't raining, it was snowing for weeks on end. He also remembered that he had been a friend of Saïx's Other, who had studied the stars (though he loved the moon) alongside him. Sometimes Axel wondered how in the world his Other could have been the origin of him; Axel had an almost perfect memory, favored fire (obviously), had spiky red hair, possessed strikingly green eyes, and had bad chemistry with Saïx -- his Other had had a horrible memory, loved water and was surrounded by it, had short brown hair, had coal-colored eyes, and was on good terms with Saïx's Other. The only thing they had in common was their affection for the stars and all of their beauty.

"Hm," Axel said again, almost silently.

Nalax noticed it though, and turned her head slightly to look at Axel, as if in question.

Axel regarded her with a quick glance. "I was just thinking about what Demyx said… you know, about where we were created."

Nalax nodded, and Axel understood it to mean "Me, too." He smirked a little.

"Hey, hey, what time is it?" Demyx asked suddenly.

Axel sat up, Demyx following suit, and both looked around for a clock. "Ah," said Axel. "It's one o'clock. Whoa, one already?"

"Haha, wow, maybe we should finish up our patrol…" Demyx laughed.

"Yeah… one more hour to go; might as well."

Nalax shot up and frowned, before standing.

Axel and Demyx blinked, looked at each other, and stood as well, walking on either side of Nalax towards the other side of the town.

After a few moments of walking in silence, Demyx turned towards Nalax. "Hey, hey… are you sure you don't have a favorite color?"

She shook her head, cracking one of her knuckles.

"No favorite animal?"

She shook her head, cracking two more knuckles.

"But how can you not? Everyone has at _least_ a favorite color!"

Again, Nalax shook her head. The rest of her knuckles cracked, and Demyx sighed.

"Why can't you just speak to us?" Demyx muttered, defeated.

She began to walk faster than him and Axel until she was walking five steps ahead of them.

"Demyx," Axel whispered hesitantly. "She'll speak when she wants to."

"Which will be never!" He crossed his arms.

"It won't be. I'm sure she's just scared or something."

"Hey, hey, now wait a minute, Axel," Demyx said, stopping. Axel halted in confusion, looking back at him. "You were the one acting all grumpy about coming on this mission because of Nalax; _you_ were the one who never wanted to meet her, thinks she is a freak, and tries to deliberately avoid her! And yes, I have noticed! I'm not _that_ oblivious! But now, you're assuring _me_ about her? You're comforting her when she's scared, helping her with ice cream -- and even then you still call her a weirdo! What is up with you?"

Axel flared. "Me not wanting to come on this mission and be around her and all of that has nothing to do with whether she's weird or not! It has nothing to do with _her_ at all, really! It's just…" Axel explained heatedly.

"Just what?" Demyx inquired of him, calm again.

"Whatever her power is -- every time I meet up with her in the morning, her power or _something_ puts this really strange feeling in my chest, and I hate it. It's like… well, like it's taunting me. 'Cause it feels like, for a split second, I have my heart back. But then it goes away almost immediately. It still… haunts me… that feeling of having a heart again. I hate that feeling. I do not hate her. Got it memorized?"

"Oh…" said Demyx. "Yeah… I got it, Axel."

"Huh?"

"It happens to me, too, man -- just as you explained it. And it _is_ her power -- trust me, she's shown me. And I really wish you could understand, but that's entirely up to her. Can't push it, ya' know?" Demyx smiled.

"Hm," said Axel, and the two began walking again.

"Sorry for yelling at you," said Demyx.

"Yeah… ditto."

"Hey, hey, where's Nalax?" Demyx asked, looking around.

"She must have -- agh!" Axel jumped and turned around at the tap on his shoulder. Nalax stood behind him, finger suspended in midair. "Oh! There you -- how did you get behind us?!"

She shrugged, and began walking again.

Axel shook his head once more. "You are so weird, Nalax."


	6. 06

"You know, I still _really _need to spar with somebody. It's been three weeks -- I can _feel_ my body getting all rusty," Axel complained.

"Liar!" Demyx exclaimed, pointing at Axel and laughing.

Axel laughed. "Well, okay, it's obvious I can't _feel_ anything, but I'm sure I am getting rustier by the minute."

"Well, why don't you just bring out some of your lesser Nobodies? You can fight them anytime."

"But fighting them isn't as fun. I control them, so I know exactly what they're going to do. Not to mention… sadly, they're pretty weak, all things considered." Axel frowned.

"Yeah…. Well, let's just go look for somebody you can spar with here at the Castle," Demyx suggested.

"Alright -- hey, wait, is Nalax still asleep?" Axel looked in the direction of her room -- which did happen to open up into the very courtyard Axel and Demyx were sitting in.

"Well, she was an hour ago. Wait, Axel, you don't want to --" Demyx began to reach towards Axel as he tried to speak, but said redhead interrupted.

"Well, let's go check and see if she's awake yet," said Axel as he stood and headed towards her room. "I've never seen her fight before, so it should be good training for me…."

"Wait, Axel!" Demyx turned Axel around by the shoulder after hurriedly standing and tripping over his own feet. "You do not want to spar with her, man!"

"Um," said Axel, raising an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure I do, actually."

"No, you don't understand -- she'll catch you off-guard, you'll freak out, and then you won't talk to us for the rest of the day."

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"

"Because--" Demyx stuttered, "--I know how you are. And she has the kind of ability that will shock you like that."

Axel sighed. "Ugh. I wish she would hurry up and show me, then. …I gotta spar _somebody_!"

Demyx laughed. "Like you said, she will when she wants to, right?"

Axel recalled the mission from last week. "Yeah. Okay." Axel scratched the back of his head, the other hand on his hip. "Let's go find somebody else then."

Axel and Demyx asked everyone in the Castle except Xemnas, of course, and absolutely _nobody _had agreed to a spar with Axel -- they even had the gall to ask Larxene, and the hotheaded, always-fighting female said _no_. It was completely disheartening.

By nightfall, Axel had finally given up.

"Well, that's it."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Axel. I'd spar with you, but fire and water don't exactly have the best chemistry, you know. Hahaha!"

Axel sighed. "Well, I'm off to bed, then. 'Night, Demyx."

"Yeah, me too! Goodnight!" And with that, Demyx had gone.

Axel sighed once more, stretched, and headed towards his room on the other side of the Castle That Never Was. It was always a long walk from the courtyard to his room, but he never seemed to mind. Besides, ever since Demyx had joined the Organization, the two had spent the last hours of the day together in the courtyard every day -- training, talking, bugging any member who happened to pass through, and all the like. He wasn't about to change that little tradition now. Besides, it was always a good, calming ritual to take that long walk to his room before bed.

He passed hall after hall, door after door -- everything was actually peaceful, for a change. No shouting from Luxord about losing a poker game, no annoying screaming from Larxene about others not doing her laundry for her, no sounds of fighting from Lexaeus and Xaldin in the weight room -- everything was quiet and peaceful. By nature, Axel rather enjoyed the rowdy-ness and ruckus from the other members, but every now and then he wished it would just be silent, and allow him some room to think, which was something he didn't have a chance to do very often.

Axel smiled to himself. He had never been much of a thinker on his own -- it usually took something interesting or prompting to get his brain going about anything, opposite Zexion, for example, who would actually force himself to sit and think for hours on end for no reason. It was calm nights like this, however, that got Axel into that thoughtful state of mind.

"Boring, tonight," Axel said, after his thoughts of thinking had long since gone. "Nothing to think about, nothing interesting going on… and talking to myself, _again_." He rubbed his temples as he continued to walk, exasperated.

When he looked up again, though, something caught his eye. He was walking on an outdoor pathway and to his right was a staircase that led to a small balcony below, which was otherwise inaccessible. Looking down, Axel could see a female member of the Organization with their hood up, legs dangling over the edge of the balcony and barely moving. He knew who it was.

_Eh, one little detour before bed -- no big deal, _Axel thought. _Not like I have a curfew, anyways._

He started down the stairs to go and sit by her, but he froze halfway down the staircase in shock. This couldn't be Nalax, for this female was speaking -- to what, he didn't know, but she was definitely talking. However, he had never really heard this voice before, and Larxene's voice was unmistakable, so it couldn't be her. That left the only other girl in the Organization: Nalax.

Eyes wide, Axel took one more step down the stairs, crouched down, and leaned in her direction in order to better hear her.

"…but it's difficult… you know? I mean… if I talked to them, I'm scared of what they would ask. I'm scared that I would get upset, and… well… my power might do something to them. I know how to release all those feelings… of sadness, anger, embarrassment… it's not hard, considering… but feelings _never _completely leave you. Even a nobody has memories of emotion, and that's what makes them so good at pretending to feel them still, like Demyx… and… Axel… too. I _want_ to speak with them, to have _actual_ conversations for the first time since… since you died. But I'm just so… scared… of the emotions that come with it all. And yet I'm scared that the more I remain silent, the more frustrated they get with me, like on that mission last week. So then I'm scared to lose them, and scared of breaking their friendship over something as small as my not talking. Lini… I miss you… it's my fault you're gone now. Maybe you would help me… if you were here.

"…You know… maybe I should just… start slow. One word at a time?" She sighed, appearing defeated. "Hm. …I think I'm doomed."

If Axel weren't still so shocked at the sound of her voice, he would have chuckled at her last comment. Instead, he shook his head clear of the surprise, and stood to go down the rest of the staircase.

"Hey, there, weirdo," said Axel, smirking, as he sat down beside her. He glanced at her face -- her eye was wide, mouth closed tightly. "To answer the question I'm sure you want to ask… yeah, I heard that. Well, a lot of it, anyways."

She turned away from him.

"You don't have to be scared to talk to us. I mean… we wouldn't want you be sad or anything, so we wouldn't ask anything of you that would upset you. I don't know how that would hurt us, but… yeah…." Axel looked over at her. She had her hands in her lap, fiddling with her fingers, her head down. "Look, I'm no good at pep talks, okay? But… just… take things at your own pace. If you don't wanna' talk, I'm not gonna' make you, but you don't have to be so scared." He laid his hand on top of her head ruffled her hood askew. She quickly grabbed it and pulled it over her face. Axel laughed. "And you don't have to hide your face, weirdo! You _can't_ be anywhere near as ugly as Demyx!"

A light, soft, and _almost_ silent giggle came from under her hood.

Axel grinned. "I got you to laugh! Ha!"

She shook her whole upper body from right to left in disagreement, as she had not removed her hands from grasping the front of her hood.

Axel chuckled. "No need to be so shy, Nalax. I promise we won't bite… and hopefully you won't bite us either."

She dropped her hands and looked up at him with her uncovered eye.

Axel's mouth twisted for a second before his hand slowly made its way to her hood. He glanced into her eye, as if to ask her permission. He saw no complaint. Gradually, he took hold of her hood… and grinned as he pulled it down over her face, causing her head to follow it.

Axel laughed as she scrambled to fix it again before flicking him on the forehead and crossing her arms.

"…Loser."

Axel stopped laughing for a minute, surprised by the sudden sound of her voice. _Strange that it's still so weird to hear her say anything, even after hearing that whole speech earlier, _he thought. _I mean -- wait! She called me a loser. _

"Hey!" Axel exclaimed, a laugh still present in his tone. "…Weirdo."

She looked back at him, mouth twisted… before she gave a small smile and stood up, offering a hand to him. He took it, stood, dusted himself off, and turned to her with a smirk. "So, what did we learn tonight?"

She stared at him, almost blank again, but confusion written into her expression.

"Lighten up," he said. "No need to be shy and scared anymore. Got it memorized?"

Nalax nodded, and ran up the stairs and away around a corner. Axel shook his head and followed her example, though much slower and in the opposite direction.

_Oh, sweet bedtime._


	7. 07

"So what does it say?" Demyx said, looking over Axel's right shoulder -- Nalax was reading over his left.

"Pretty much the same thing as the last one we had to do together," said Axel, rolling his eyes at his shoulders' occupants. "Oh, wait… A little different, actually… hm."

"So read it," said Demyx.

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Alright, then…. 'To Axel, Demyx, and Nalax: You three are to visit Hollow Bastion once more, from noon today until three o'clock. You will not be on patrol, but will be misleading some fighters of the Heartless by the names of Squall (known as Leon to his familiars), Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid (I have enclosed their pictures). Do anything in your power to keep them away from the Castle there without showing yourselves. You _must_return here at exactly three o'clock. Do not interact with any humans. Xemnas."

"This sounds like fun!" Demyx exclaimed. "What time is it?"

"Time to leave," Axel said thoughtfully. "…Let's go."

He opened a corridor of darkness and pushed Demyx and Nalax through. _Mislead them? Better think of a plan, _Axel thought as he went into the corridor after his friends. _…Oh boy._

They laid atop one of the many rooftops of Hollow Bastion, in the Borough area, watching as their targets conversed in whispers below.

"So how are we gonna'… 'mislead them'?" whispered Demyx from between Nalax and Axel.

"Xemnas didn't say we couldn't use our nobodies this time, so when they start towards the Castle, Demyx, bring your nobodies out and make sure those punks follow them," Axel told him.

"Okay, easy-peasy," Demyx muttered, smirking. "…I wonder what their talking about." A skinny girl with short black hair was speaking, using big gestures and cheesy facial expressions.

"She reminds me of you, Dem," Axel chuckled.

"Nuh-uh! I'm way cooler than her." Demyx pouted.

Axel snorted but waved off the subject as the girl began pointing towards the Castle. "Here we go…."

Demyx held his hand up, ready to snap his Nobodies into action.

"Hey, and that blonde one reminds me of Luxord," Axel said, smirking. "He's got the hair; almost the beard, too."

Demyx stifled a laugh as Nalax shook her head, smirking.

Axel raised a hand to them to tell them to be focused again. "Wait… okay, now, Demyx."

Demyx snapped his fingers, and his Dancer Nobodies appeared on the street below. They simply stood and swayed for a few minutes before the targets noticed them. Instantly, confusion and shock struck them visibly, before the brown-haired male and the shorthaired girl pulled out their weapons with looks of determination, the brunette female standing close behind and the blonde one running towards one of the houses. Demyx snapped his fingers again, enclosing all four targets in a circle of his Nobodies.

"Agh! What do we do, Leon?!" said the shorthaired girl, eyes wide.

The brown-haired male, _Leon_, Axel assumed him to be, growled. "What are they? They can't be Heartless!"

"Cid, can you get the prototype going?" said the brunette.

The blonde one responded. "It's in Merlin's house! I can't reach it from here! Leon, Yuffie, Aerith -- we just gotta' take 'em down the ol' fashioned way!"

"But how do we know they're not friendly?" said the shorthaired girl.

"Yuffie, look out!" Leon rushed at the Nobody behind her that had been ever so close to knocking her into the corner of the street. With a yell, he slashed at the Nobody, but missed. Another danced up from behind him and knocked him into the woman Axel assumed to be Aerith.

"This is great," said Demyx, obviously enjoying the show. "They're totally hopeless!"

"Hey, I know you're probably enjoying your temporary sense of power here," Axel whispered, noting Nalax's worried face as she watched the struggle below, "But we're only supposed to keep them away from the Castle, not knock the crud out of 'em."

"I am keeping them away," Demyx said, mouth twisting.

"Let's just stick to blocking them off from the place, though -- at least until they start getting _really_serious," Axel supplied, turning back to watch as Demyx nodded dejectedly.

"Whoa!" Cid exclaimed as he dodged one of Leon's attacks, which had been initially aimed at the Nobody behind Cid. "Watch it, bud!"

"Sorry," Leon ground out, before yelling out as he attacked another Nobody. "What do these things want?!"

Yuffie jumped away from a wall of them to stand back to back with Leon, as the other two stood a few yards from them. "Hey Cid," said Yuffie. "You need to try and get into Merlin's house! These things aren't attacking, just standing there -- break through their ranks and run for it!"

Cid nodded, making an about-face and running towards the house again.

Demyx smirked. "I don't think so!" he whispered, commanding his Nobodies to toss the approaching fighter back to his friends.

"Agh!" Cid shouted as he landed. "They won't let me!"

"Dang it!" Leon growled.

"It looks like they just don't want us to leave," said Aerith calmly.

"But we have to get to the Castle somehow! Forget the prototype!" Yuffie yelled.

Minutes passed in semi-silence, and Axel could almost hear the gears turning in all of their minds as they tried to think of what to do.

After more minutes of the pregnant quiet, Leon whispered something to Yuffie, then to Cid and Aerith. All four nodded, before suddenly rushing towards the three Nobodies that blocked the road to the Castle, weapons up and voices shouting.

Demyx cursed under his breath, snapping more Nobodies into action along the road. Leon and Yuffie let their weapons fly, taking out four Nobodies.

"Okay, I'm gonna need some help here, guys," said Demyx, the three moving into crouches, prepared for anything.

Nalax furrowed her brows, as if debating something inside. _No time for that -- better call in my own Nobodies_, Axel thought hurriedly, snapping his fingers. Assassin Nobodies appeared behind the remaining Dancers on the street, while the Dancers broke from their circle behind the four fighters and attempted to hold them back from the rear.

The four were now surrounded, but they continued to fight in the direction of the Castle.

"How long do we have before the computer shuts down?!" screamed Yuffie.

"Not long enough!" shouted Cid as he kicked a Dancer away. "Even if we git through these guys, it'll still take another hour to git all the way to the computer!"

"I'm guessing --" said Aerith, pausing to duck under Yuffie's giant ninja star flying back around to its owner "-- that we still have two hours!"

Yuffie sent her a half-apologetic, half distressed look, before diving into the Assassins.

"Ugh," muttered Demyx. "Another hour of dealing with these guys?"

"Well, it's not like we have to go down there and fight them ourselves," said Axel, knowing how much Demyx hated having to fight.

"Yeah, but still -- we have to just sit here and watch."

Nalax fell back on her behind suddenly, hugging her knees to her chest.

Axel furrowed his brows. "You okay, there?"

Her fingers clenched.

"What's wrong, chicky?" said Demyx, turning his full attention to her.

Axel twisted his mouth up, sending a lingering glance to Nalax before turning back to oversee the fight, just in case; they couldn't afford to let the four fighters escape their blockade. So far, they were still stuck battling through Nobodies, so Axel listened in to Demyx and Nalax while watching the struggle below.

"Huh, Nalax?" Demyx probed. "What's wrong?"

Axel heard the shuffle of a cloak. "My head," spoke Nalax softly, a hint of pain in her voice.

Demyx paused in what Axel imagined as shock before saying, "Can't you just do that… thing? I forgot what you called it…. Extraction? No… distribution? Oh, _redistribution_!"

There was silence before Axel heard another shuffle. The fighters below were getting better at knocking out Nobodies and more exhausted of them at the same time -- Axel snapped more Assassins into the street. A collective groan was heard from below.

"There -- you better now?" said Demyx after a moment.

Nalax returned to Axel's side, Demyx beside her.

"Why do you think you got a headache all of a sudden?" Demyx asked.

She shrugged and waved it away before peering at the struggle below once more. Axel took the opportunity to glance at her; her mouth was twisted and she was slouching a little. He shook his head, tucking his questions away for later.

Silence passed between their group as the ruckus from below increased.

"Wow, Axel," said Demyx in fascination. "I think my Dancers are actually beatin' 'em better than your assassins."

"What?" asked Axel incredulously, watching the fight intently for a moment before turning his attention to Demyx. "They are not! Mine are doing way better than yours."

Demyx turned to Axel as well. "Uh-huh! And besides, Xemnas even told me that Dancer Nobodies are high-ranking, so of course they'd be doing better than yours."

Axel laughed. "Xemnas said mine are high-ranking Nobodies, too! He said they're even up there with the Berserker Nobodies."

"Nuh-uh! That's impossible -- Assassin Nobodies are nothing compared to my Dancers!"

"They are not!"

"Are, too!"

"Are _not!_"

"Nalax, aren't my Dancer Nobodies better than Axel's Assassin Nobodies?!"

Axel and Demyx looked to Nalax -- to find her standing and unzipping her cloak hurriedly.

"What are you doing?" asked Axel, eyes impossibly wide.

Demyx's jaw dropped as Nalax tossed away her cloak, turning her back to Axel and Demyx. She pulled a rubber band from the pocket of her black zippered Capri's and went to tie her hair off to the side, then seeming to ruffle her bangs (but it was hard to tell from where Axel was squatting.)

Axel repeated his question, a little more breathless from shock -- first, she was a skinny thing and wore a sort of belly shirt with no sleeves, a mess of pastel splotches of pink, blue, and purple, two vertical zippers in the back; and second, the Organization cloak wasn't just some fashion to keep them together, it was protection, too -- protection from the chance of being consumed by darkness, like their lesser Nobodies sometimes were. And Nalax had just tossed it away.

Nalax pointed at the fight below to answer his question before suddenly jumping off the roof.

Axel and Demyx immediately leaned over the edge of the roof to see what was going on. To their immense surprise, Leon had just slain the last of their Nobodies. Nalax landed in front of the four targets as soon as they began to run for the Castle.

"Hey!" yelled Nalax, breathless and panicky. "You have to help! There are these strange white _monsters_ in the Marketplace! They're attacking my friends! Please -- help!"

Leon looked ready to punch somebody in the face, but asked her, "Isn't there anybody else that can help? We're trying to --"

"No!" Nalax shouted, appearing desperate. "There are so many of them -- 50 or more, maybe! Oh please, help! My friends --"

Aerith touched Nalax's shoulder in comfort. "Don't worry -- we'll help you. Won't we, Leon?" She looked to Leon pointedly, who sighed and nodded. "See? Don't worry -- just stay right here and we'll take care of it."

So saying, the four fighters ran towards the Marketplace, already exhausted and very irritated. Nalax climbed up to the roof again, hanging her head so that her face was hidden behind her bangs. She tore out the rubber band in her hair, stuffing it back in her pocket, and putting her cloak back on. When she had it zipped, she opened a corridor of darkness, looked at Axel's and Demyx's wide-eyed faces, and pointed to her portal.

Axel realized to where it led and what they needed to do. He picked Demyx up by the arm and the three of them walked into the corridor, stepping out onto a roof in the Marketplace. Axel went to the edge and snapped twenty-five of his Nobodies to the ground below.

"Oh! Right…" said Demyx before doing the same with his own Nobodies.

The two turned to Nalax as their targets arrived and began fighting the Nobodies off.

Nalax pushed her hood over her eyes in what looked to be bashfulness. "…You guys weren't paying attention," she whispered, crossing her arms and looking blankly to the ground.

After a moment, Axel walked up to her and patted her on the shoulder as Demyx applauded quietly. "That was… clever. Really smart," he congratulated, smiling. She gazed up at him with her one visible eye in wonder.

"Yeah!" said Demyx. "You could've just gotten our attention somehow, but… then again, I guess by the time we would've realized what was happening, they would have escaped to that Bailey."

Axel stared at her for a long time, his hand still on her shoulder. He had gotten that feeling again -- that quick swish of water. Only, this time, there was more to it -- there was a pull like a magnet, like she was pulling on a rope that connected to his --

_My what?_ thought Axel, strangely irritated that the thought had crossed his mind. _My _heart_? …What heart?_ He mentally shook his head at himself; how could he still be so bitter about not having a heart? He had been a Nobody for a _long_ time -- he'd of thought that his longing for having a heart again would have gone away by now. _Wait -- how can I even _long_ for something? I don't have a heart -- I don't feel anything. Isn't 'longing' an emotion?_

He focused in on Nalax again. _It's her fault, isn't it? _he thought. _Whatever her power is, her element, whatever -- she's doing something to me. I wonder if it's on purpose._

"Uh, Axel?"

He blinked, and turned to the source of the voice: Demyx. "What?"

"You zoned out for a while. It was kinda' weird," said Demyx, cocking an eyebrow at Axel.

"Oh," Axel muttered as he removed his hand from Nalax's shoulder; whom, he noticed, had been staring at the zipper on his cloak intently -- or maybe it was at his chest? -- they were at the same place, either way. "I was just thinking…."

"About what?" Demyx inquired, and Axel thought he heard something like suspicion in Demyx's voice.

Axel squinted at him. "Just thinking. Look, we should probably be watching those punks, right?"

"Nah, remember how they said it would take an hour to get to their… uh, computer? Before they couldn't do whatever they were going to do? Well, it's too late for it, now," Demyx explained, jabbing a thumb behind him at the four fighters. "I heard them yelling about it."

Axel gave a short chuckle. "So I guess we're done, then." He snapped his fingers, making his Nobodies disappear before Demyx did the same. "How much longer until we can go back?"

"Half an hour," said Demyx, glancing at a clock atop an item shop across the Marketplace. "What do you think they were trying to do, anyways?"

"I don't know -- I bet Xemnas knows, though…" Axel trailed off. He scratched the back of his head, a hand on his hip, and sighed, as if defeated. He could feel an empty ache in his stomach. "…Let's get some ice cream."


	8. 08

**Axel stared at her.**

**Nalax had been standing in front of him for about four minutes now, hand in front of mouth, crossing and uncrossing her arms, kicking dirt. He knew she wanted to say something, and he also knew how scared she was to speak too much -- these combined frustrated Axel to no end.**

**They were standing in the courtyard, Demyx sitting off to the side with the occasional chuckle that earned him a quick sideways glare from Axel. Axel knew that Demyx knew what Nalax wanted to say, and he had practically bounced his way to the courtyard after he told Axel that Nalax had something to show and tell him.**

**Axel rolled his eyes as Demyx chuckled again and shook his head.**

**Nalax sighed and squinted her eyes closed for a moment. When she opened them, Axel saw determination in the one visible.**

"**I want to show you," she said lightly, "what got me into the Organization."**

**Demyx leaned forward, smirking, as Axel's eyes widened.**

**She took a deep breath and put her hands on top of her chest, one upon the other. Slowly, she seemed to pull something out of her, though there was nothing there -- but then Axel saw her glowing, a flicker of pink light like he had seen that first day as she walked away. The glow seemed to accumulate in her hands as she drew them away from her chest, her hands separating and turning to face each other between her and Axel.**

**Axel gave a small gasp. In her hands… was a heart.**

_**A heart. That's a **_**real…**_** heart. Is it her heart?! No, she's a Nobody -- isn't she? But she's holding a heart! She pulled it out of her chest! It's a heart! **_**Axel thought frantically.**

**Nalax turned her eye up to him. "To answer your shock, it's not a real heart," she said softly. "Real hearts cannot not be created like this, only birthed. This is the shadow of a heart -- raw emotion in physical form."**

"**Holy cow," Axel muttered. "And you made this?"**

**She nodded.**

"**That's your power?"**

**She blinked. "Well, there's more to it than this, but I will get to that…. If you don't mind, I'd like to explain this a little more…." She swallowed, taking a deep breath again.**

**Axel shook his head, eyes wide. "Go right ahead."**

**She nodded. "I created this shadow of a heart from the memory of emotion that I still hold, from when I had an actual heart. No one can fully rid themselves of emotion -- not even Xemnas can." She glanced into his eyes, seeming to find confidence in them. "If I implant this in someone, they will feel whatever emotions it holds. This form in particular is a simulation of an actual heart. It would make you feel as if you had a heart again -- the feeling so real, you could easily be fooled into thinking it really was your heart." She tensed her fingers, and the heart dissolved in powders of every color known to man. "I can destroy it, too -- and that's how you can tell that it's fake. A heart does not truly die until the soul and body cease to exist… the memory of emotion always remains, and emotion is part of the heart -- it's a complicated thing… but because no soul or body is connected to a shadow heart, it can be easily disposed of."**

**Axel stared at her hands as one dropped to her side and the other lingered over her chest. "…wow."**

**Nalax smiled minutely. "And you can tell by what color the 'heart' is, what emotion it holds…. Like light blue means relaxation, lavender means adoration, yellow is happiness, dark blue is sadness, black is pain… so on and so on."**

**Axel let out a breath. "So that's your power, huh?"**

"**Yup!" said Demyx, standing to join them. "The element of 'Emotion'!"**

"**Man, oh, man," Axel muttered.**

"**There's more, though," said Demyx, grinning. He seemed so proud -- of what, Axel had no idea.**

**Axel turned to her again.**

**Nalax looked down at her feet. "Don't get overexcited -- this part is still a work in progress." She glanced up for a split second before saying, quietly, "I can locate a person's heart, too."**

**Axel's stomach flipped. "What do you mean?"**

"**If I needed to find someone, I could find them by their heart. Or, for someone without a heart -- I can locate their original heart for them… for Nobodies."**

**Axel's eyes grew impossibly wide. "Can you--"**

"**Wait," she said, quieter than before. "Like I said, it's still a work in progress. I practice with it every chance I get. Every heart is different -- each has its own balance of strength, light, darkness, range and volume of emotion, and… memories. It's difficult to connect the specific heart with the right shell -- body and soul, that is. I'm still trying to figure out how the pieces fit together. It's… **_**very**_** difficult -- and hard still to find the time to work on it. And then I'll have to learn how to input a real heart into the shell, which I know is much different than inputting a shadow of a heart, like the ones I create. …I'm still practicing on it all." She seemed breathless after her explanation, as if each word uttered had taken its toll on her.**

**Axel felt number than ever, for some unknown reason. **_**She said she's still working on it. She'll figure it out in time… hopefully I'll still be around for that, **_**he thought bitterly. **_**Not like she made me any promises anyways.**_** He wanted to be angry with her, but he knew there was no reason to want that -- she seemed to be trying her best already. He looked down at her again, meeting her eyes. The want to be angry faded quickly away. She seemed slightly… scared.**

"**Hey, I'm not mad, weirdo," said Axel, giving in to a small smirk. "Not like you owe me anything. What you can do is pretty special -- I mean, really -- talk about cool with a capital 'C'." Axel laughed as Demyx grinned wider. "And honestly -- I'm just happy to hear you **_**really**_** talkin' to us."**

**Nalax smiled, kicking dirt again. "I've decided to just let what happens happen."**

**Axel nodded. "That's… good. I think."**

**She giggled a little, standing up straight.**

"**Oh," said Demyx, grin gone. "I almost forgot! We have another mission!"**

"**And you're just now telling us?" Axel asked him, brow raised and a hand on his hip.**

"**Oh, no, wait," Demyx mumbled after pulling the envelope from his pocket to read the content inside. "I'm actually not supposed to go… it's for you two and Luxord."**

**Axel grabbed it out of Demyx's hands and read it.**

_**To Axel, Luxord, and Nalax: there is a large Heartless in a world called Traverse Town. It has stopped collecting hearts and is sleeping on the roofs of the town. The three of you will destroy it. Try to stray from areas where humans are outside. Do not use your lesser Nobodies. Do not interact with any humans. This is a test of your strength as of late. Xemnas.**_

"**Ugh," Axel mumbled. "I hate Heartless…." He looked to Nalax, who was attempting to read the mission upside-down. "C'mon. Let's go find Luxord."**


	9. 09

"Why did he have to put _me_ on the mission?" Luxord mumbled angrily. "You can't gamble with a Heartless. You two would have been better off alone."

"Aw, I'm insulted, Lux," Axel said, acting hurt. He placed a hand on his chest dramatically. "You don't want to be with us? I burn, I pine, I--"

"Oh, cut it," Luxord snipped.

Axel chuckled. "Well, I _do_ burn."

Nalax giggled lightly.

"You know," said Luxord thoughtfully as they turned onto another empty street. "Xemnas usually puts Lexeaus on these kinds of missions."

Axel raised an eyebrow. "I thought he mostly sent Marluxia and Larxene on the fighting missions."

Luxord raised his brows tiredly. "Well, yeah, I guess -- when he can trust them with the deck."

"Huh?" Axel crossed his arms, noticing that Nalax seemed deeply interested in what Luxord was saying.

"Well," Luxord began. "Xemnas has been pretty suspicious of those two as of late -- he thinks they're trying to overthrow him."

"That's ridiculous," said Axel, waving a hand. "They know better than to make such a death wish."

"I don't know about that," said Luxord thoughtfully. "You know how they both are."

Axel nodded and was about to say something when Nalax spoke up.

"So _you_ think they're trying to overthrow Xemnas, too?" she said, not as light as she usually spoke.

Luxord looked surprised, and answered her anyways. "Well… not exactly. I just wouldn't put it past them. I think I would bet on it, however."

Nalax turned away, looking around as if for the Heartless.

Axel put his hands behind his head and sighed.

"You know what," said Luxord after a moment of awkward silence. "We're not going to find this thing for a while. I'm going to go find someone to play poker with."

"Xemnas said not to interact with humans, Luxord," said Axel, bored.

"Oh, I'll just knock 'em out when I'm done -- they'll think it was just some strange dream," Luxord waved and walked off towards the middle of the town. "Tell me when you find the thing. See ya' later." He disappeared around a corner.

"So basically he's leaving the Heartless to us," said Axel.

"Yup."

"Guess he wouldn't have really fought it anyways."

"Nope."

Axel chuckled. "Alright then. So let's go find this--"

A huge, black, blue, and yellow _monster_ of a Heartless landed in the square in front of them with a bang that could have been an explosion. It waved its head back and forth before turning it straight to them and roaring.

"--thing," Axel finished. _Man, oh, man, look at this guy, _Axel thought as he smirked. _This ought to be fun._

Nalax swallowed.

"Hey, we can take this thing," said Axel, patting her shoulder before bringing out his chakrams. "Don't worry, weirdo."

Nalax nodded and stretched her fingers outward at her sides. A pair of grey and red daggers that resembled the Organization symbols appeared in her hands, much the way his chakrams had -- minus the fire, of course.

"Alright," Axel complimented.

The Heartless swung a clawed paw at them (which was as wide as Axel was tall), its eyes rolling around in a chameleon-like fashion. Axel flung his flaming chakrams at its forehead, hitting and injuring it. It roared, jumping up into the air and coming down strongly, shaking the ground and knocking the two Nobodies off their feet.

Nalax jumped up quickly and ran under the Heartless, dragging her daggers across its belly before disappearing behind one of its hind legs. It snapped at Axel, who leaped at its head and slashed it across the nose. When Axel landed again, he spotted Nalax walking carefully up its spine. Axel understood what she was heading for and tried to buy her time by throwing his chakrams at its eyes, enjoying himself.

But instead of simply blinding the thing like Axel had intended, the Heartless became angry and kicked up with its hind legs, flinging Nalax into the air.

"Nalax!" he shouted. He could only watch as she dropped quickly towards the ground, her arms crossed over her chest and surely terrified face invisible due to the hood. Then, the Heartless swung his paw towards her, and Axel was sure this could not end well, but instead of an impact that would have sent her into the side of a building, the creature caught her tightly and brought her to its face. She stabbed her daggers into its paw, but it did not release her from the pain -- it flicked her backwards, her head an inch from the ground… and her hood falling back to reveal messy, light brown hair that was cut under her ear on the left side and tapered to shoulder-length on the right. Still, however, Axel could not see her face.

With her daggers resting in the creature's paw, she placed her hands in front of her chest and pulled out a heart, pure black in color. He tried to remember what she had said the black colored ones meant, but couldn't quite bring up the memory while his brain was still focused on the Heartless and its clear intentions to eat his friend.

Nalax looked up at its face and stretched her arms out toward it, the heart in her hands. It looked almost happy to see the heart, most likely thinking it was an actual one meant for its collecting.

"Axel," Nalax shouted back at him. "When it eats the heart, attack its eyes!"

"Its eyes? Don't you mean the forehead?" he shouted back.

"No!" And she thrust the heart into its mouth. Instantly, Axel realized what black meant: pain.

Nalax took her daggers out of its paw as it released her and began to stomp around, roaring pitifully. She used the momentum from the fall and jumped towards the Heartless once more when her feet touched the ground. Axel followed her example and both Nobodies gave a final strike to its eyes.

As they landed, side by side, the Heartless roared one last time before disappearing, its large heart floating towards the sky and disappearing itself.

Axel and Nalax both let out a long sigh.

"Luxord missed out," he said, turning to walk towards the middle of town. "That was pretty fun." He remembered something then, and glanced quickly at Nalax -- but her hood was up again. _Dang it, _he thought. _Missed my chance._

"For you, maybe," she muttered, shoving her hands in her pockets.

He chuckled. "Well, let's go find him again so we can go back."


	10. 10

"So aren't you curious?"

Axel's eyes widened, caught off guard. "But--"

"Oh, but what?" Demyx said, leaning forward with his hands on his hips.

"_But_," he said, slightly glaring, "it's _her_ room. And she's asleep! I mean, do you know how that looks? Can you imagine if Xigbar or -- or Larxene sees me walking into her room in the middle of the night, knowing that she's asleep?"

"So they'd call you a pervert for a few weeks and get over it. At least you'd have successfully seen it," Demyx said, smirking.

"Are you kidding?" Axel said, laughing incredulously. "They would _never_ let me live it down. Not to mention they'd be talkin' about it to Xemnas, and then I'd lose all respect."

Demyx sighed, a careless hand in the air. "Fine, be a baby. But you're missing out -- you might _never_ get another chance to see her face." He gave the redhead a dry glance, eyebrow cocked, and rolled his eyes as he walked off. "'Night."

Axel was left alone in the middle of the courtyard, arms crossed, brows stitched together, and internal battle raging.

_He's right_, he thought. _I may never get to see Nalax's face if I don't sneak in there right now and take a look myself. But it's not fair to her -- I told her myself that we wouldn't push her into showing us anything she's hiding. I told her to take her own pace, and now here I am contemplating on whether or not to break that privacy and rip the hood off while she's out. But… then again… that time when I faked her out, she didn't really seem to mind all that much that I was grabbing at her hood, and that was even after I told her we weren't rushing her into it. And besides, how mad could she get at me? We're Nobodies -- we don't feel anything, right? Still… would she still trust me if she found out I looked without asking her? …Ugh…. _Axel straightened up in resolve. _Screw it. I hafta' see._

Axel headed in the direction of Nalax's room, which was on 'Floor Zero' as Zexion kept calling it -- it was the floor under the ground floor, with one side full of nearly empty storage rooms and pointless hallways, the other side being the Castle Dungeons; Nalax's room was somewhere in the midst of all of it. He knew how to get there from taking the staircase to the side of Larxene's room (the only staircase on which he preferred to watch the night sky when he was bored), but he couldn't give directions to it for the life of him.

He kept his head down and his hands in his pockets as he reached Floor Zero and began to navigate through the empty hallways there. Down there, it was always silent, always still -- the kind of still silence that was deafening to Axel's ears and blocked all completed thought from his brain. It gave him an empty sense of sleepy focus, a strange combination for Nobodies like him. Although, he couldn't help but distantly think that it was a good thing, for it kept him from second guessing himself and starting a second internal battle with himself.

The deafening silence dispersed, however, when he arrived in front of Nalax's door. With a deep breath, he reached for the door handle, halting when the cool of the knob reached his hand through his glove. _Is her room really that cold? _he thought, and gripped it tighter. _These gloves are supposed to be too thick to react to temperature changes, aren't they? _He shook his head, dismissing the trivial thoughts of his gloves, as the reality of what he was doing set in to his mind.

_This is not fair to Nalax. Why am I doing this?! _He scrunched his eyes closed, shaking his head again. _No! You already resolved to doing this, dolt, so do not turn back now! Demyx was right, remember? You might never get this chance again. _Which was a ridiculous assumption, his conscience thought somewhere far off in his mind, as she did retreat to her bedroom for sleep _every night_, so he had plenty of other chances, didn't he? _Okay, that doesn't matter. You've come this far, Axel. Just walk in, take a quick peek, and scram like hellfire. Go!_

And with that thought, he closed his eyes and silently, but sluggishly, turned the doorknob and slinked into her room. When he opened his eyes, he took a deep breath and let them adjust to the darkness.

_This is stupid, you already see a little more than half of her face every day, is the other half really that important in the grand scheme of things -- argh! Shut up! I'm looking, and that's final! _He shook his head one last time, to clear his head of the battle once and for all.

He took a slow step forward, looking around her room. A fairly large bed sat in the very center of the room, with a watercolor bedspread and a peaceful sleeping figure beneath it. On both sides of the bed were oak nightstands, a glowing pink and blue lamp atop one and a quietly ticking clock atop the other. A matching desk stood in the corner of the room to his right, sheets of paper and notebooks scattered around on its top.

Distracted, Axel walked lightly up to the desk. One of the notebooks was labeled "Heart Studies", another labeled "World Notes", and yet another labeled "Heartless." Each one appeared to be nearly filled. He touched a piece of paper titled "Org. XIII: Memb. Notes", with scribbled and fragmented sentences about various Nobodies littering its white front. Peaking out from beneath this seemed to be the same notes continued, and there were many pages of them.

Axel let out a low whistle at the sight. She had all kinds of notes spread out upon the desk, and just from reading a few sentences off the visible ones, he concluded that they were very extensive and detailed. _Is she really that dedicated to the Organization, to be studying all of this so much? _he thought, eyebrows raised. _I'm not even _that_ dedicated, and I've always been one of the few actually loyal ones, according to Xemnas. Geez._

A particular open journal caught his attention then: on the revealed page was a beaten up photograph of Nalax, and beside it was a drawing of her daggers and a line of different colored hearts (and beside each heart was a scrawled emotion.) Under these visuals were lines of information, beginning with the short description, "_Nalax, Numberless, Guider of Hearts; tool, weapon, not actual memb." _

Axel's brows furrowed. _'Not actual member'? But then, why…?_ He stopped these thoughts with a small click of the tongue and rounded on Nalax's bed, determined to just get his "mission" over with, and to stop distracting himself. Her desk shouldn't be any of his business.

With a calming breath, he stepped up to the side of her bed, taking in the scene.

Her head was under the covers, but her arms were above her on the pillows, and he could tell she was on her back with her head turned towards him from the silhouette in her blanket. All he had to do was pull the covers down and he could be on his way -- but still something held him back from just simply doing so and leaving. His hand reached gradually towards the top of the blanket, and he held his breath.

"Mm," she mumbled from beneath the sheets and his hand recoiled quickly as if bitten. Her arms disappeared under the covers and she turned on her side, curled into a ball. Axel cursed under his breath. Another murmur came from her direction. "Axel…."

At this, his eyes widened, and a fog in his head seemed to have been replaced with a deafening silence that made Axel lay his head in his hand.

_Can't. Just isn't fair, _came his broken thoughts, and he turned sluggishly to leave.

"Axel?"

He froze and turned back to Nalax. She wasn't breathing in the deep, steady pattern of sleep anymore, but instead seemed to be barely breathing at all, as if from fear.

"Axel?" she muttered again, hesitantly. "Is that you?"

He cleared his throat a little. "Yeah. It's me."

She seemed to sigh deeply before asking him, "What are you doing in here?"

"I…" he began, and quickly thought of something to tell her. He didn't want to tell her the truth. "I… wanted to see if you were awake, because I needed to ask you something. But… I… forgot what it was now, so… I'll be going. Uh, goodnight."

"Oh -- wait," she said, and sat up with her back to him, blanket held over her shoulders. "I had this dream… about Marluxia and Larxene. Do you… do you think they're really trying to overthrow Xemnas?"

Axel was taken aback. "Well," he started, quietly. "I'm not sure. But I don't think it's anything to get worked up about." _Why would she even worry about something like that?_

"…Okay." She pulled the blanket tighter around her. "It's just… well… nevermind."

Axel's brow stitched together, but he decided not to press the matter. He sighed. "Goodnight, Nalax."

"…Goodnight."


	11. 11

Axel had almost about had it. "Stop looking at me like that!"

Demyx continued to stare at him, eyebrow raised, arms crossed. "I still cannot believe you."

Axel groaned. "Oh, come on. I told you, it's just not fair to her."

"But that was the perfect chance! Absolutely perfect!"

"Just as it would be every night."

"Exactly! So try again tonight!"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"I've already told you!"

"But _why not?_"

"Demyx! Come on. Why aren't you agreeing with me? She probably has a reason to keep her hood up, so let her keep it! Drop it, Dem."

Demyx sighed, defeated. "Ugh. You're probably right. But --"

"But, what?" said Axel, squinting at him and leaning back on the pillar.

Demyx stared at him, looking as if he had something important to tell him, but he turned his gaze on something to his left. Axel looked for what had caught his attention: Nalax was heading towards them.

Axel sighed, and she stopped in front of the two. "Xemnas is calling a meeting," she said, distracted. "He says it's important."

Axel, Demyx, and Nalax appeared in the Round Room. The rest of the Organization was already present and in their high seats.

Axel watched as Demyx took his seat between Saïx and Marluxia, and then took his own between Luxord and Zexion when Nalax failed to take the empty XIII seat. Brows furrowed, he continued to watch her, to see what she would do, but she only stood where she was. It occurred to him that he actually hadn't attended a meeting in the Round Room since Nalax arrived, so he had no idea what she was supposed to do if not sit in the only empty seat in the room.

As if in answer to his thoughts, Xemnas spoke.

"Nalax," he said with obvious authority. _"You_ will take the chair at my feet, today."

Confused, Axel looked below Xemnas' seat, as he was sure every other member did, thinking, What chair?_ I don't remember there being a 'chair at his feet'._ But there was, indeed, a chair connected to the front of Xemnas' throne, some yards below his boots.

_Must be an add-on, _Axel thought, scratching at the back of his head.

Nalax did as she was told, sitting with her hands clutched in her lap. He guessed she must have been nervous.

"Now," spoke Xemnas after a quick and dignified glance below him. "There are two things to be discussed tonight. They are connected."

Every Nobody's attention focused solely on what Xemnas was saying, in custom.

"I'm sure all of you recall what was discussed about the new Keyblade wielder in the last meeting," he went on. "The boy named Sora?"

Most members gave a nod, the rest simply continued to listen.

"He created a Heartless."

Axel furrowed his brow as Xigbar voiced his thoughts: "What's so important about that?"

"Think." Xemnas smirked. "When a Heartless is created…"

"…a Nobody is created as well," said Zexion, twining his fingers together.

"Exactly," Xemnas said. "This was a Nobody like us, and he will complete our ranks as the thirteenth member of the Organization."

An aura of tension settled over the room from interest.

"What is its name?" Marluxia asked, eyes narrowed. Axel gave him a small, cursory glance.

"Roxas."

As Xemnas said the name, a corridor of darkness opened at the XIII seat. When it disappeared, a figure sat there in an Organization cloak, hood up.

_He already gave the guy a cloak? _Axel thought. He leaned forward, head turned fully towards the new Nobody -- _Roxas_, his mind supplied.

Then, the thirteenth member let his hood down. All turned back to him, watching as a head of spiky blond hair lifted. Bright blue eyes gazed back at them, taking in the faces of the other thirteen people in the room.

"Wait," said Larxene, leaning her torso on the arm of her chair. "If this guy's the thirteenth member, then what's the other girl?"

"Nalax," Xemnas said, "is numberless."

"Huh?" Larxene said intelligently.

"She is not paneled in the Proof of Existence. She has no rank. She is numberless."

"Then why does she still get to wear the cloak?"

"Because she is still part of the Organization."

"As what?" asked Luxord, leaning forward on his knees. "If she has no rank or number, how is she still part of the Organization?"

"And why," said Marluxia, with a pretense of anger, "did we not gather to discuss this when she first joined us?"

Xemnas' rage slipped through into his face. "All of you will do well to remember your place in this Organization, and to remember who gave you reason to continue to exist in this universe! You will do well to understand when you are speaking to one above you! I have my reasons. You shall also do well to trust that." Xemnas spun out a glare before disappearing in a corridor of darkness, signaling the end of the meeting.

Marluxia glared darkly at where Xemnas had been before disappearing, Larxene following close behind. Eventually, Axel, Demyx, Nalax, and the new member, Roxas, were the only ones left. They, save the latter of the four, appeared at the floor of the Round Room.

"Nalax?" said Demyx hesitantly. "What did he mean by 'numberless'?"

Axel stared at her, and then up at Roxas' seat. He recalled reading 'numberless' on her notes about herself in her room, but he hadn't understood so completely then.

"I am Number X," she replied.

Axel looked back at her. "You couldn't be; that's Luxord's number."

"No," she said, looking him square in the eye. "I don't mean 'X' as in 'Ten'. I mean just 'X'. Number X. Number Zero. I have no rank."

"I always thought _you_ were Number Thirteen, though," said Demyx. "Because you're still part of the Organization--"

The three of them looked, slightly startled, at Roxas, who had chosen that time to appear some feet from them.

He stared at them, blank.

"Um," said Demyx pointedly.

Roxas looked to him. "Where am I supposed to go?"

_Well, doesn't he just get straight to the point,_ thought Axel, quirking an eyebrow.

Demyx looked to Axel, as if asking silently for help.

Eyes rolling at his comrade, he turned to the new member. "Anywhere in the castle that doesn't belong to another Nobody," he said, hand on his hip. He wasn't quite sure he liked this new member.

Roxas stared blankly at him.

"Didn't Xemnas at least give you a room?"

"He gave me this," said Roxas, fishing a letter from his pocket. "But I can't understand it. Is there a Nobody language?"

Axel blinked, took the letter from his hand, and read over it. Then, he laughed.

Demyx blinked at him, asking "What's so funny?" incredulously before taking the letter to read over himself. He laughed as well.

When the two finally settled, they looked at Roxas, who was glaring.

"Eh-heh, sorry," said Axel, sending a quick glance at Nalax, who was struggling to read the letter over Demyx's shoulder. "It's just that it's not another language. That's just Xemnas' handwriting." He chuckled a little. "You'll learn to read it."

"So what does it say, then?" Roxas inquired, finding no humor.

Demyx quirked an eyebrow, still smiling from the laughter, before reading the letter aloud: "_To Roxas. Upon joining the Organization, you are given a place in the Proof of Existence as well as a bedroom on the thirteenth floor. I recommend approaching another member to assist you in finding these places, and generally helping you find your way around the Castle. Your first mission will be given to you within the next few weeks. You shall be working with a few members of my choice. Good luck to you. Xemnas._"

Roxas nodded and took the letter back. He stared at them once more.

Axel stared back, brows furrowing. "Do you want us to help you around?"

After a moment, Roxas shrugged. "Are you three the best for it?"

Axel snorted. "We're probably the best you're gonna get, _Roxas_."

Demyx tilted his head for a moment before shaking it. "Well, if we're going to help you, then you should know our names, right?"

Roxas said nothing.

"I'm Demyx," he said buoyantly, jabbing a thumb at himself. "That's Axel--" he pointed to Axel, and then at Nalax "-- and that's Nalax."

Roxas nodded.

After a moment, Axel sighed. "Well then, come on, let's show you around." So saying, he opened a corridor of darkness.

As Demyx stepped in, he said, smiling, "At least you're not as bad as Nalax was on her first day!"

Both Axel and Nalax rolled their eyes.


	12. 12

By the time they had shown Roxas his panel in the Proof of Existence, his room, and various other important rooms of the Castle (kitchen, weight room, the way down to the Dark City, etcetera), they had ended up in the courtyard, sprawled out on the white grass in a sort of circle.

"Do you ever put your hood down?" asked Roxas suddenly. It turned out he wasn't as bland as Axel had guessed him to be (though he was still _far_ from Demyx's level of excitement.)

Axel and Demyx turned to who Roxas must have been talking to, for she was the only one with her hood up.

She was silent for a moment. "…I try… not to," she answered quietly.

"Why?" Roxas probed, and Axel began to become uncomfortable. "What do you have to hide?"

"I just…" she started.

"We're only Nobodies. We don't matter, right?" he continued. "We have nothing to hide, because we feel nothing. You shouldn't want to hide yourself. One day, your face will be revealed, because that's how nonexistence works. Why care to keep it up until then?"

Nalax was silent, lips pursed.

Axel found he couldn't even force himself to utter a word.

She grasped her hood in both hands, and pulled it further down so that not one bit of her face was visible anymore. This seemed familiar to Axel -- had she done it before? He couldn't remember at the moment -- and he wondered what she was thinking.

And then, slowly, torturously, she began to pull the hood back.

Dainty chin, cracked and pink lips, pale skin, small nose, pale left eye, light brown lock of hair -- but he'd seen all this before.

But then: the rest of her bangs revealed themselves, a second pale eye, light and skinny eyebrows, pale forehead, a small black marking at the corner of her right eye that resembled a heart, shiny head of hair -- and then the hood was behind her head, beneath the uneven cut of her hair.

Axel had imagined that she couldn't look much different without the hood; after all, two thirds of her face was already visible anyway. But for some reason, seeing her entire face for the first time gave him such a pretense of awe that he could have sworn it was a real feeling. The nothingness in his chest was swimming, and he had to wonder if she was messing with him again.

If he had looked over at Demyx, he would have seen him smiling.

"Calm down, Nalax," Demyx said, putting his hands on her shoulders (Axel realized then how wide her eyes were, and how her teeth pulled at her lip). "You're doing that heart thing again."

Axel's chest stopped swimming, and he could have sworn he had just fallen from something.

"Sorry," she muttered, but Demyx shook his head and let go of her.

"Axel?" Demyx said then, tilting his head at the redhead beside him. "You still in there?"

"Nalax," said Axel, ignoring Demyx, and she turned to him, teeth pulling at her lip again. "I told you, you didn't have to hide your face." She nodded, but Axel smirked. "And I told you there was no way you could be as ugly as Demyx," he muttered, low enough for only her to hear. "I was right."

She laughed.

"What?" said Demyx, looking back and forth between the two, but Axel just shook his head, finally turning his gaze to something else.

He looked at Roxas, who shrugged.

_Funny how it takes a stranger… _Axel thought.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm going to try to update slower after this. The only reason they've been going up three-four days apart is because I've already written it all. I have some chapters left that are ready to be uploaded, but I need to write more. Glad everyone has been enjoying this story. I adore your reviews -- they keep me going. Thank you!


	13. 13

"What?"

Demyx seemed tired. "Yeah. I know. He said that things are going to start changing '_now that we have the final key_'." He slouched in his seat.

Axel stared. "…_What?_"

Demyx merely nodded.

"Final _key?_" asked Roxas, blank in the face but purely interested in his seated posture. "What did he mean by that?"

"Heck if I know, man," Demyx replied, throwing his arms in the air in mock exasperation. He leaned back on the white sofa. "Whatever it means, it better not include me on double fighting duty, because I swear, I keep telling 'em--!"

"Demyx," Axel said, tense. "This is probably something to be taking seriously."

"I am taking it seriously!" Demyx exclaimed, sitting up straight. "I _seriously_ better not be put on more Heartless duty!" He slumped back into the sofa once more.

Before Axel or Roxas could do so much as roll their eyes, a tall, blue-haired Nobody appeared at the edge of their half-square of sofas.

"The three of you should be working," said Saïx, indifferent if not angry. "The matter of changes in the castle is not something to be spoken of, but to simply be experienced. Like now, for instance." He turned towards Demyx. "Xemnas will no longer be writing out our missions. I will simply brief you from now on. Demyx: you will be investigating a new world today. Take Number XIII with you and inform him of how we take care of reconnaissance. Come find me when you are ready to leave." So saying, he walked to the window across the room and peered out at the empty night sky, arms crossed.

Demyx looked to Axel, then Roxas. He frowned in surprise. "Alright. Um. At least it's not Heartless duty. You ready, Roxas?" He stood.

Roxas nodded, his face showing confusion as well, and the two quickly spoke with Saïx and left, hurried.

Axel was frowning. _That was fast. Just learned that there would be changes -- now things have changed. I honestly don't know what to think of this,_ he thought, then looked deliberately to Saïx. _I have questions that need answers. I better get them._ Thoughts jumpy and almost scattered, he stood and walked up to said Nobody.

Saïx turned his eyes in acknowledgement as Axel joined him at the window.

After a moment of gathering his thoughts together, he spoke. "That Roxas -- he's a keyblade wielder, isn't he?"

Saïx hesitated, but nodded.

"How many of us were told?"

"That is of no importance, Axel."

His mouth twisted. "Maybe; but we're an Organization. I've always been loyal to the uniform. I should have been informed."

"Finding out secondhand is just as efficient. No harm, no foul, yes?" Saïx kept his eyes glued to the sky.

"I didn't find out secondhand, _Saïx._ I figured it out myself."

Saïx turned fully to him. "Why is it that you are making a trivial thing into such an issue?"

"Because trust has been breached." Axel kept his eyes hard on the fellow Nobody.

"We trusted your observance. You did well in figuring it out on your own."

"I think the entire Organization is losing trust in one another," said Axel suddenly, boldly. Saïx flinched only a bit. "You and Xemnas fail to even inform us of a new addition to our party, you begin to take our Numbers into account when dishing out respect when you never have before, and you introduce a new member without bothering to tell us he's a _Keyblade wielder._ What is going on?"

Both Nobodies stood stock still, tense, unfeeling.

Then Saïx narrowed his eyes, and turned back to the window. "Things are changing, Axel. New pieces are coming into play. The final keys to our success have finally been acquired."

Axel remained silent, but did not lift his gaze. Saïx sensed it and turned to him once more.

"If it will put your mind at ease, I will speak with Xemnas of your concerns." He turned away once more. "Trust is not lost. It is merely about to be put to test."

Eyes narrowed, brows furrowed, Axel nodded. He walked away.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, guys. I've got a few more chapters left in storage. But I just don't know when I'll start writing on CaC -- I am NOT abandoning it, though, okay? Lately, though, all of my inspiration has been sucked into my original novel (which is a good thing for me,) so when I do have inspiration left over from writing on that, it's difficult to put it towards CaC, because, I'll face it, this story takes a lot of inspiration to write on. But this AN has gone on a bit long. Just mark my words: I'm not abandoning this story, just letting my creative juices flow towards a more productive work. Love you all! Don't forget to review. :)


	14. 14

"What did you do?"

"Nothing! I swear! One minute he was fine, the next he was out! And now…"

"Demyx. What -- did -- you -- do?"

"I _told you!_ Nothing!"

"Then what happened?"

"Man, seriously, when did I give you the impression that I knew what in the world was going on?"

"Number IX, if you refuse to try and contribute now, then just go to your quarters."

Demyx had a hard look on his face -- something rarely seen in the musician. He did as he was told, heading towards his room.

Saïx turned back towards the window, looking like he would have loved to sigh.

Nalax watched with a strange expression as Demyx left, and when he had disappeared down the hallway, she turned back to Axel.

He easily read her expression. "I don't really think he did anything to Roxas." Then he reread her expression, remembering that she had been out on her first solo mission when Demyx and Roxas had returned. "Oh, right. Demyx brought Roxas back from their last mission with him unconscious. Should have seen Xemnas' face when Saïx called him to come and see. He was furious -- kept ranting about how it could ruin everything. But they looked him over and he should be fine… they're just trying to figure out what happened."

Nalax took it all in. She had seemed to become more and more unsettled with the new addition as his first week rolled on; even though he had been the one to get her to keep her hood down, they just had some kind of bad chemistry. "Maybe nothing happened. Maybe he had just been exhausted from stress. You know… since it's his first week and all…."

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Stressed?"

She blinked. "Oh. Right. Well… he still could have just been tired."

Axel dropped his brow but twisted his mouth. "Maybe…" he said, but he didn't buy it at all, as probable as it was. Something just made the whole thing feel like it couldn't just be a normal occurrence. _I mean, Nobodies don't _really_ get tired. We just lose energy -- but never enough to make us pass out from it, _he thought.

"Axel?" said Nalax, breaking him out of his small thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think he'll be alright?" she said, but her tone made the question sound simpler than it should have been. He knew she wasn't worried -- merely curious.

He looked over her face, taking it in again for the hundredth time that week. Almost distractedly, he replied, "Once Zexion gets back from his mission, they'll get him to run some experiments. We won't really know until he tells us."

She nodded. After a moment, she asked, "And… what about Demyx?" Her tone wasn't so simple this time; here, she was worried.

Axel wanted to say "Eh, he'll be fine. You know how _he _is, hahaha," but, yet again, something just didn't feel normal. And yet, he couldn't say he was _so_ worried about the guy either -- he may have been a kind of friend to him, but….

In the end, he found he couldn't answer her. He looked her in the eyes before turning away, arms crossed, head bowed, and eyes closed. He just didn't know.


	15. 15

Saix had Axel, Nalax, and Demyx out on a mission together once more, investigating Hollow Bastion and its inhabitants again. All was calm as they walked the halls of the Castle, and awkwardly silent.

"So…" said Demyx, throwing his hands behind his head. "Why did he put us in the Castle again? I… wasn't really paying attention." He took a quick glance at Axel.

Axel looked around at him. "Don't remember our last mission here?"

"Er…" he stumbled. "You mean with those fighter dudes?"

"Uh-huh," Axel replied, wondering what other mission he could possibly have considered. "And remember how they were talking about some prototype thing up here at the Castle?"

"Um… yeah." Axel could easily see he _didn't_ remember though, and rolled his eyes a tad.

"Well, that's what we're looking for."

"Some prototype thing?" Demyx asked, stretching. "Do we even know what the heck it is?"

"Nope." Axel picked his pace up a bit, and while Nalax easily fell into step with him, Demyx was left about three feet behind them. "Just look for anything suspicious, man."

"Mhmm," and Demyx was silent once more.

Eventually the hallways became slightly more difficult to navigate. Some pathways were block off by rubble and collapsed ceilings, while others just led them in circles. The quiet stayed unchanged, however, no matter how many times Demyx openly sighed.

Nalax walked ahead of them by now, pale eyes intently searching.

"Hey," she said softly as she rounded a corner. "There's a door down here."

Axel walked a little faster, and Demyx finally dropped his arms from his head. Both came up behind her and peered down the particular hallway.

The walls gradually faded from the orange-brown of the Castle's metal to a formal, lavender-white paneled hall, and at the end was a single white door.

Axel walked up to it, closely followed by the other two Nobodies, and with a satisfactory smirk, he pushed the door open.

Inside was a circular office.

"Whoa," said Demyx, walking in first. "Fan-say."

There was a mahogany desk facing the door on the other side of the room, overwhelmed with books and what appeared to be research papers (that looked eerily similar to the papers and journals that had been on Nalax's desk) piled high. The same was piled in various corners of the room, amidst overflowing bookcases and scientific instruments. The walls were covered in blue writings, some scripts so worn that they were now unreadable. Behind the throne-like chair stationed at the desk was the massive portrait of a man that looked like a twin of…

"Xemnas…?" Axel muttered, moving the chair aside to approach the painting.

"Dude… it looks _exactly_ like him!" Demyx exclaimed, staying in front of the desk to observe.

"It is… him…?" said Nalax, coming to stand beside Axel.

"No way…" said Axel. "Don't think so anyways…."

"The hair's a little different though." Demyx pointed. "This dude's hair is a lot more tame than Xemnas'."

"Is there a caption?" Nalax said, peering and grabbing onto Axel's arm. "A name?"

Axel glanced at her, and her hand, and then at the portrait. "I wonder." And then he looked at the bottom of the painting's frame, at the gold plate that he just realized was there. "It says… 'Xehanort'."

* * *

**A/N: **Mkay, guys. I think I'm writing on this again. Updates should start getting closer again. :)


	16. 16

**A/N: **I was very excited to submit this chapter. Tell me how you like it!

* * *

Frustrated, Axel simmered four steps ahead of Nalax and Demyx.

"C'mon, man, we didn't find anything in there. Let's just go!" Demyx whined.

"No, we haven't covered the entire castle yet," Axel argued back. "Which is what we're supposed to be doing."

"Oh, so, we can just tell Saïx that we _did_, and call it a day," the other boy suggested.

"Look, the Organization wants us to explore the whole place, so that's what we're going to do."

Nalax caught up beside Axel. "I think we _have_ searched the entire castle."

Axel sighed. "We have?"

She nodded.

He stopped and turned around.

"Can I go now?" asked Demyx expectantly.

"Yeah," said Axel with feigned exasperation. "Go report to Saïx and tell him we'll be back in a minute."

Demyx punched the air. "Yes! Alright, see ya'!" He winked as he made a corridor of darkness and rushed through it.

Nalax looked up at Axel in question.

"C'mon, weirdo," he said simply, and led her out of the castle.

They walked in silence, like he was used to, as they clambered through the construction area. He couldn't help but glance at Nalax, who was fiddling with her hands and staring straight ahead. He knew she was worried. And it was obvious about what -- or, more accurately, whom.

Axel cleared his throat. "You shouldn't worry about Demyx."

She looked up at him in response, surprised. "Why not?"

He sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Isn't healthy," he said lamely.

"But he's our friend, isn't he?" She sounded a bit pained.

He glanced at her. "I don't know." Demyx had definitely been acting different lately. He kept rubbing on Axel's last nerve with his laziness and weakness, and his constant complaining. Or maybe that was all it was -- just Axel getting irritated. Maybe Demyx wasn't the one who had changed. But then again, it had only been going on since Roxas had joined the Organization. "I just… don't know anymore."

Nalax looked as if she knew what he'd been thinking. "He's changed."

"You think so?" Axel looked to her. "'Cause it could just be us seeing him in a different light or something."

She was quiet for a full minute before she spoke again. "He may be a Nobody, but I can feel that he's changed. It's in his false emotions. …I don't remember him being so… like this before." Her eyes were focused solely on the ground.

He blinked. "You're sure?"

She nodded.

He noticed that she wasn't playing with her hands anymore. They were also in the Shopping District now, which was Axel's intent.

With a muted smirk, he told her to wait on top of one of the stores' roofs as he continued into the district and searched for the certain store he had in mind. He almost wished that he could worry like Nalax could (and not just because it would mean he had a heart,) because despite what he had told her, it was healthy to worry every now and then. And she was right: Demyx was supposed to be their friend. But he was also different now.

Axel couldn't decide whether he was okay with Demyx falling out or not. Not like he could feel hurt about it either way. But he still couldn't help being, at least, reminiscent; they had trained and hung out together for a _long_ time, after all -- ever since Demyx was brought into the Organization.

_Well,_ Axel thought as he went back to where he left Nalax. _Maybe it's just a phase. Maybe there's nothing to worry about after all._ He wasn't exactly the optimist, but he couldn't lose sleep over the predicament either. All that a Nobody could do is let what happens happen.

He plopped down next to Nalax on the roof, dangling his feet over the edge of the shop. Smirking, he handed her the ice cream he'd gotten for her.

Her eyes lit up as she smiled at him. She brushed her gloved fingers over his own as she took it from him -- he _knew_ this would make her happy.

After two minutes of nibbling, he noticed she had all but deflated. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

She sighed like she'd been holding her breath for a while. She didn't look at him, but instead at her treat. "I feel like something's missing."

His brow promptly furrowed. "You mean Demyx?"

She nodded after a moment.

Why hadn't he guessed that she'd feel that way? Her love for ice cream -- and even for graham crackers -- had started with the Nobody. He should have thought about that. It seemed like it was getting easier to exclude Demyx from his mind in such a way. "Nalax…" he said. He rested his hand on her left shoulder gently, and it seemed to help him too. "I think… that we just need to let whatever happens… happen."

She looked at him then.

"I know it seems kinda stupid coming from a guy like me, since I'm incapable of worrying at all," he continued. "But even though worrying and sulking can be good for you every once in a while, some things you gotta let go. As Nobodies, it's our job not to care. I mean, the 'Big Man' doesn't care about whatever friendships we have."

She sighed, which made Axel sigh in turn.

"I'm not helping, huh?"

She shook her head. "No, you are. It's just… I don't…." She sighed again. "It's hard for you to understand, but it hurts. He was my first friend."

Axel, after a quiet moment, nodded. She was right: he didn't understand -- not the feeling, at least. He was his first "friend" too, so they shared that at least, but it wasn't the same. Demyx changing hurt Nalax, but for Axel, he honestly couldn't care either way.

They sat in silence for a while, both chewing away at their Sea-Salt ice creams again, and both perfectly content with just sitting under the stars doing so. Eventually, however, Axel broke the silence with a question that had been on his mind for quite some time.

He was hesitant to ask, but shook off the hesitation as the result of spending too much time with an emotion-bender. "Nalax?" he began. "What's it like… having a heart?"

She glanced at him over her half-finished popsicle. Her eyes refused to leave his. "…There's no way to explain it, really…. It's something you have to experience," she answered quietly.

He swallowed the last bite of his own before pushing the stick between his teeth. "…I…" he muttered. "I don't want to know…."

She let her eyes float down.

"But, yet, I do want to know." He looked at her as her eyes shot back up to him. "I just…."

"…think it's cruel?" she accurately finished for him. "To know what it's like, without really having a heart."

He nodded, and took the stick from his mouth to throw it to the ground. It was all he could manage.

"I can show you how it feels," she said, even quieter than before. "But I'm worried you'll be angry when it's over."

"…Anger's impossible, remember?"

"Nobodies can feel hatred. It's a heartless emotion. And anger is a form of hatred."

He closed his eyes for a moment. "…I promise I won't be angry." He looked at her once more, this time with a small smirk. "You know me -- I'm too cool for hatred."

She smiled lightly. Then she shifted to her knees, facing him, ice cream left forgotten behind her. He found himself swallowing heavily in nervousness, no doubt (inadvertently) caused by Nalax. …Could he handle this?

Could he?

He swallowed again, and closed his eyes. After a moment of tense silence, light flooded the darkness behind his eyelids, and he was forced to open them. Nalax was holding a heart between her palms, loosely shielded by her fingers -- though it was twice as big as her hands. It shined brightly as an indistinct heart-shape, differently colored lights in layers upon layers within it. Some were pastel, some with colors so intense they were neon, and some were dark and dull, though there weren't as many of those. All of the colors moved, and all of them made him stare in some version of awe.

"It's not a real heart," she said, waking him from his trance. He moved his eyes to hers with difficulty. "It's easy to tell that it's artificial. No one's heart is _this_ emotionally balanced: with every single color. For example…" She swallowed, and her eyes seemed to grow paler than they were. "_My_ heart has a majority of pastels, and the rest of it has more dark colors than neon colors." She smiled the tiniest bit. "So I'm obviously not the most exciting person."

He breathed. "…You've seen it?"

She looked downward. "Yes. …I have."

He waited for her to continue, but she did not. He figured it was a story for another time, though definitely one he wanted to hear.

She lifted the heart towards him, quickly turning his attention back to the matters at hand. "It's easier for me if you're completely still. And it's easier for you if you close your eyes… so you can focus on all of the feelings."

For a split second he realized how foreign the word "feelings" actually was to him, especially when used for him in a sentence -- and how curious of a thought that was -- before he shook it off and closed his eyes as instructed. He focused on breathing, keeping himself completely still, despite the nervousness he could feel radiating from the Nobody in front of him. His body was tense.

And for a moment, nothing happened.

Then something, _something_, passed through him and he felt the warmth of Nalax's hands on his chest. For a second he wondered why nothing else had changed, but then that _something_ began to swim in his empty chest cavity, touching his spine and his ribs and his chest bone, searching for what had to be its designated spot. It settled quickly in the center of his chest, and -- he couldn't suppress a gasp.

It felt like--

--well, _he could feel_.

Actual emotions filled his body to the brim, overwhelming his mind and overflowing from his chest, like somebody had opened the floodgates in the middle of a hurricane. He felt excitement, then astonishment; awe and shock, then happiness and apprehension; utter joy and subtle triumph, heightened nervousness and immediate relief; deep worry and lazy carelessness, furious ecstasy and a breezy, balmy calm; then sadness, frustration, agitation, and irritation, and raw pain and shallow depression, all at the thought that he would probably never feel any of this again. It felt like every imaginable emotion was taking its turn to swing at him, hitting him full-on; and then, gradually, all of the feelings faded, one after another. The pounding pulse that had ruled his chest settled to a dying beat, and he lost the sense of fullness. He almost longed for the feelings back again, but the feel of longing itself was too weak to even be tangible.

After another minute, he was completely hollow once more.

He opened his eyes.

Pale circles greeted him, the lightness of them heightened by the moonlight. The eyes were wide, and the chapped lips a ways below them were parted. Warm hands were still splayed on his chest. Nalax seemed to fear for the worst.

But Axel wasn't angry. He just felt empty, like he'd never felt empty before.

He moved his hands atop hers, slightly sighing.

She blinked. "Are… are you okay?" She was worried again.

He felt his fingers twitch. Was he okay? Of course he was. How could one not be okay if they felt nothing? He looked into her eyes again. "Yeah," he said quietly. He wanted to say more, but there was nothing he really could say.

He could tell she didn't believe him. "What's wrong?"

"I… I feel…" he closed his eyes for a moment, searching for the feelings, urging them to come back, but there was nothing. Always, nothing. "I feel empty."

Her eyes filled with sympathy, and she tried to move her hands away. "I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have--"

"Don't be sorry," he whispered, not letting go of her hands. "You didn't cause the emptiness. It's what we've been born with."

"But now you know what it's like to have a heart," she said just as loudly. "There's no more wondering. There's no more naivety. You're going to miss it now."

He held fast to her hands, pressing them to his chest. They were warm where the night was cold, and it was the only thing he could feel besides the nothing inside of his chest. He would not let go of this. "But even before, I remembered. My Other's memories. I still had them."

"Memories of emotions from someone who is _not_ you… isn't the same. Can't you tell?" She was staring at their hands.

He considered that slowly. The memories of his Other were like watching a television screen from behind a veil, and there was nothing attached to it. They were just there, inside of his mind, like notes from a stranger in a dirty filing cabinet. Whereas the memories of what she had created for him -- memories of the simulated heart and all of the encompassed emotions -- were like watching a hi-def computer screen with no veil, and with it were remnants of _something_, and the remnants seemed to magnify the hollowness he was experiencing now. Those memories weren't just in his mind, but they were also in his chest. Yes, he felt nothing, and he was filled with nothing, and he was a Nobody, but something was there in the back of his chest, and whatever it was made him miss what she had done -- what she had created. It made him want her to do it again, if only for a few seconds. They were definitely two different types of memories.

Finally, he nodded. She raised her eyes to his again, and he stared back.

She sighed. "I'm so sorry."

"Like I said, don't be. I asked for it, remember?"

"Yes, but…" She paused. Her eyes filled with something akin to determination, or maybe passion. "Axel…." Her hands slipped expertly from his.

And then she was embracing him. Axel didn't quite know where it had come from, but he welcomed her warmth, and the swift (but powerful this time) water-like swish she put in his chest, and held her back.

She whispered into his neck, "Axel… I'm going to find your heart."

Though he couldn't feel the shock, he expressed a pretense of it. She pulled back to look into his eyes, arms still draped around his shoulders. He stared back, dumbfounded.

"I promise," she said, and there was no doubt in his mind that she meant it. "I will find it."


	17. 17

"It's been five days," said Axel.

Nalax opened her eyes and looked up at him in silent question. She seemed to be keeping her eyes closed a lot lately, ever since their prolonged stay at Hollow Bastion; she always looked like she was concentrating, and when her eyes were open, she was distracted half of the time. It might have got on his nerves had he not had a suspicion on why she was like that lately. "Five days since what?" she asked after he failed to respond to her look.

"Since the new kid's been under," he answered. He leaned backwards, sliding his rear to the near edge of the white couch while his shoulders rested on the back of it. It was surprisingly comfortable.

"Oh," she muttered.

He grunted. "Not a big fan of the guy, huh?"

She shrugged, eyes unfocused and distracted again. When he thought for sure she was done with the conversation, she muttered, "And it's been a week since he joined."

"Oh, yeah, huh?" he said. "Feels like it's been longer than that."

She chuckled lightly.

He raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

She slightly raised an eyebrow back at him. "'Feels'?"

He chuckled. "You know what I mean."

And then her eyes were closed. He still could not believe what she had promised him. She was going to find his heart. He was going to feel again. He remembered what it had been like when she had given him the synthetic heart, and at the memory the remnant in the back of his chest tickled. It was all just unfathomable; the one thing that means the most to a Nobody, that any Nobody would die to have for even a moment, had been promised to him. Sure, the purpose of Organization XIII was to complete Kingdom Hearts, which would give every member his heart back, but it was almost a far-fetched goal, because there was only one keyblade wielder able to collect hearts and complete it, and he and his Other were both incapacitated -- not to mention that one person could not collect every heart and complete Kingdom Hearts quickly. It would take a _very_ long time. And even then, what happens when a keyblader is killed? When both are killed? Then it would never be completed.

But Nalax…. She had promised that she would find his heart for him. She was so determined, so passionate about it. Something told him that this, not the completion of Kingdom Hearts, was definite.

Axel was going to finally have his heart back. The thought made the thing in the back of his chest itch like crazy.

He looked at Nalax's face again, scanning it, memorizing it. His eyes locked on the mark of a heart below the corner of her right eye. How much was she planning to give to find his heart? How far would she go? And what if she found her own heart instead? Would the promise be lost then? Or what if she found his heart, and then never found her own? What could he -- what _would_ he -- do? Would he feel guilty? Or would it not make a difference, seeing as she could feel emotion already?

So many questions. Too many possibilities. It almost made his head hurt.

"Axel."

He almost jumped, his focus returning and landing on the person who had gotten his attention. Saïx.

"You have a mission."

"Oh." He leaned forward, off the back of the couch. "Solo, again?"

"No."

He looked around the Grey Area, seeing no one but Nalax and Saïx. "With Nalax?"

"With Roxas." He smirked.

Axel feigned surprise. "Really? He's awake?"

"Yes," the blue-haired Nobody replied, followed by a sigh. "But he doesn't remember hardly anything. Your mission is to show him how missions work."

Axel twisted his mouth. "You're kidding, right?"

Saïx looked like he would have rolled his eyes, but smirked instead. "Hmph. Nalax."

She opened her eyes, immediately alert.

"You have a very important mission today. Meet Xigbar at Beast's Castle as soon as you are prepared."

She glanced at Axel for a split second before asking, "Battle or reconnaissance?"

"Reconnaissance. Among other things."

She nodded. "I'll go now, then." She opened a corridor of darkness and walked through it, glancing at Axel again before she left.

He knew she was very worried.

"If you'll excuse me, I shall retrieve Number XIII," said Saïx, promptly turning and leaving.

"Why do _I_ have to be the babysitter?" Axel yelled after him. He was answered with the echo of a chuckle.


	18. 18

In the Grey Area, Axel was staring out of the large window -- just looking, not really thinking -- when he heard someone approach him from behind. He turned, and found a blank-faced Roxas instead of the nervous Nalax that he'd expected (who, he idly noticed, was already in the room, but on one of the couches, leafing through a messy notebook.)

"Heya, Roxas," Axel said, raising an eyebrow.

Roxas said nothing.

_Great. He really did lose his memory, didn't he?_ he thought and crossed his arms. _Back to square one, I guess._ "Something I can help you with there, chatterbox?"

Roxas said nothing; he only stared.

Axel couldn't help but wonder why he'd even bothered to walk up to him if he was just going to silently stand there, when he recalled what Saïx had told him earlier. "Ah, I remember now. We have a mission in Twilight Town."

"…Twilight… Town?" Roxas asked quietly.

Axel uncrossed his arms. At least he got him to speak. "Mhmm. It's another world we tend to go back and forth to lately. And it's a relatively new world, from what I hear." When Roxas failed to respond with anything more than a small nod, he decided to point him in some other direction. "Go talk to Saïx so he can brief you and we can get rollin'."

Roxas nodded again, and walked over to said Nobody. Axel watched as Saïx briefed him about missions and procedures. He was not looking forward to being a teacher.

"…Axel will be joining you your first time out. Isn't that right, Axel?" said Saïx.

Axel sighed, stepping up to the two. "Oh boy. …What, are you making me the kid's mentor, now?"

Saïx smirked, and Axel got the feeling it wasn't by chance that he was the one who had to take this mission. Saïx probably assigned it just to annoy him. "Surely you don't mind showing Roxas here the ropes?" He walked off.

He definitely assigned it just to annoy him. "Well," said Axel to Roxas, who was still just staring. The kid reminded him of Nalax when he first met her. "You heard the man. Starting today, I'm your babysitter."

Roxas glanced at him, but still said nothing.

Axel rolled his eyes. "Sheesh… quit acting like a zombie, and let's get this show on the road. We gotta talk to Saïx again when we're ready." There was a moment of silence as he put one hand on his hip. "Are you ready?"

Roxas nodded, and Axel walked up to Saïx, with the kid in tow, once more.

Saïx nodded. "Teach him well, Axel." Something about his gaze was tense.

Axel met it. "Don't worry," he said sarcastically. "I'll make sure he makes the grade. C'mon, Roxas." And he opened a corridor.

But Roxas didn't walk through, and he wasn't staring blankly at Axel either. He was staring at Nalax, who was across the room, hurriedly ruffling through the same notebook with shaky fingers.

"What?" asked Axel, brows raised. Maybe he was regaining a memory or two. "Have you met her?" he probed.

Sadly, the boy said nothing.

_Guess not, then. _"That's Nalax," said Axel, feeling like he was already entering teacher-mode. "Got it memorized, Roxas?"

"…Yeah…" he replied.

Axel raised a brow. "You sure?" _Might as well quiz him. Could bring back a thing or two. _"How about my name, then?"

"It's Axel."

"And our boss's name?"

"Xemnas."

"Very good, Roxas!" He snorted. "No way you're gonna forget his name, right? Now, let's get moving."


	19. 19

"What's the point?"

Axel looked around at the blond boy with an eyebrow raised. "Of what? The mission?" he laughed.

"No," said Roxas. "Of the Organization. Why do we need to collect hearts?"

"You mean why do _you_ need to collect hearts. You're the only one who can, remember?" Axel replied, throwing his hands behind his head as they continued through the moonlit streets of Hollow Bastion.

"Yeah, Marluxia taught me," he said.

Axel suppressed the urge to scoff. "Well, to answer your question…" he began with a glance at the moon. "It's for Kingdom Hearts."

"_Kingdom_ Hearts?" asked Roxas. "What is it?"

"It's where all the hearts go," Axel explained. "When you destroy a Heartless, the captive heart that's released by your keyblade goes to Kingdom Hearts."

"Oh." He could tell Roxas still didn't understand.

"Apparently, when Kingdom Hearts is completed, we'll all be completed."

"Completed? What do you mean?" He climbed ungracefully over a crate in his way.

"Nobodies don't have hearts, so we're incomplete. Ever wondered why you don't feel any emotions?"

He said nothing.

"Supposedly, when Kingdom Hearts is completed, we'll all get hearts again. That's the big 'master plan' of the Organization. So we'll be complete."

Roxas nodded, taking it in, but didn't respond.

Axel found he liked it better that way -- it was what he was used to when on a dual mission, anyways (when he wasn't with Demyx, that is.) And silence was very appealing to him at the moment, especially in a town center that already had much of it. Moments passed in comfort.

"What's it like to have a heart?" Roxas asked suddenly, looking square at Axel and no longer walking.

Axel stopped as well and turned to face the younger Nobody. "It's…" he began, but decided not to attempt to explain. Instead, he just shrugged.

Roxas's brow furrowed deeply. "If no one knows what it's like, why fight for it?" His mouth twisted. "I mean, why fight for something we know nothing about?"

Axel's voice took on a wise tone, his eyes squinted in thought. "…We're fighting so we _can _know what it's like." And then he turned and commenced walking again.

Roxas said nothing behind him.

"So…" said Axel. "You really don't remember anything from your first week here?"

"…Bits and pieces," Roxas muttered. "_Small_ bits and pieces."

"Whaddya mean?"

"Some images come back to me every now and then…" he explained. "Mainly the cloaks, and some of the places… sometimes faces, even."

"Huh." Axel scratched the back of his head, only half-listening. As soon as the mission was over, he could crawl right into bed….

"I remembered Xemnas's face. And yours… and that girl's. But that's about it. Everything else is blank… like I have a bunch of pictures in my head that have all been scratched out." Roxas was walking at Axel's side again.

Axel chuckled after a moment, remembering the boy's first day.

"What?" said the other.

"Just thinking about your first day," Axel said. "You were a zombie then, too."

"Why d'you say that?" There was a crease in his forehead.

Axel shrugged. "You were trying to read Xemnas's handwriting, and you thought it was some kind of 'Nobody language', as you called it. Haha."

Roxas laughed, which made Axel's brows raise.

"Well, maybe the kid's not such a zombie after all," he said, and then punched him in the shoulder. "Hahaha."

"Hey, that hurt!"


	20. 20

_Ah, good night's sleep,_ Axel thought and stretched, leisurely heading to get his day's missions. The halls were fairly quiet this morning; he guessed it was only that way, however, because everyone had already left on their own missions. Which meant he'd probably woken up later than usual. His mouth twisted.

He heard a long yawn that ended in a groan from around the corner he'd been about to pass. He stopped, waiting to see who it was, and Demyx walked into sight, slouching deeply and scratching the back of his neck. The red-head suppressed a powerful urge to kick a wall.

When he saw Axel, he straightened his posture. "Dude!" He smirked slightly, waving. "Wanna hear something interesting?!"

Axel sighed. "Not really."

"Well, I'm gonna tell ya' anyways, 'cause I'm positive you'd want to know!" Demyx took a dramatic breath. "Apparently, Xigbar and Nalax still haven't come back from their mission!"

Axel raised his brows. "Seriously? Why?"

"Pft, I don't know, man!" He laughed. "But can you imagine being on a mission for -- like -- more than fourteen hours or something?! That's crazy!"

"I wonder what they're doing," Axel wondered aloud. "Saïx said it was a very _important _mission."

"Don't got a clue," Demyx said, yawning again. "But that better not become the new thing. Day-long missions… no, thank you!"

Axel rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh." He started towards the Grey Area again, shoving past Demyx as he went.

"Hold up a minute," Demyx called. Axel stopped and turned around. "What is your problem lately? Somebody steal a chakram or something?"

Axel squinted. "More like what's _your _problem, man."

"Huh? I don't have any beef with you!"

"That's not what I'm talkin' about."

"Then what?!"

"Look, I know you've always hated combat missions, and that your laid-back and whatever, but now you're just plain _lazy_. And, plus, you put your laziness over stuff like what could be going wrong in the Organization. I'm sorry, but seriously, I've begun to lose respect for you."

Demyx frowned. "Just because I'm lazy? That's kinda stupid."

"Sheesh, Demyx! It's more than just your laziness!" Axel rolled his eyes, closed them, and then took a deep breath. "You know what? Forget it. Just don't let your lack of responsibility get in my way." He took off once more, faster than before. "See ya'."

He heard him scoff and mumble to himself.

Axel huffed. _Wonder if_ Saïx _would tell me about Nalax's mission. _He almost laughed at himself. _Probably not, but I guess it couldn't hurt to ask._

He entered the Grey Area after another moment. Larxene was leaning against the wall looking smug, and she called to him as he passed.

"Does Axel _miss_ our little puppet?" she cooed.

He stopped and turned to look at the Nymph. "Huh?"

She merely smirked.

Axel raised an eyebrow at her, but promptly turned to walk up to Saïx, who was standing where he usually did these days, but was turned and looking out the giant window.

"Saïx."

"Hm?" he said, but didn't turn around.

Axel joined him at the window. "What's taking Xigbar and Nalax so long?"

He was quiet for a moment, just staring at the night sky. "Their mission requires that they take their time."

"Why? What's their mission?"

Saïx looked at him then. "It's of no concern to you."

"Can't be sure about that, now can I?"

"Don't hold a grudge against me, Number XIII."

"Well isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?" Axel retorted.

Saïx scoffed.

"What's their mission?"

"…All in good time. Don't worry."

"Do you have a fetish for secrets or something?"

"Axel." Saïx faced him fully now. "Since when have I _ever_ informed a Nobody of another's mission? This is no exception. Everyone will understand soon enough, but as for now, you have missions of your own to carry out. I suggest you get to them."

Axel sighed, wanting to glare, but nodded. "…Fine." He turned to leave.

"…Wait a minute, Axel."

He turned around.

"I must inform you of something else. Something important." Saïx turned to face the window again. "…And you will be the first to know."


	21. 21

Axel pulled his arms over his head in a yawn-accompanied stretch. It had been a rather long day for him: taking Roxas on another learning mission where he attempted to teach him something he'd actually _need_ to know, taking on three Large Armor Heartless on a mission in Agrabah, doing recon with Lexeaus in Beast's Castle (which was only tiring because of the amount of effort it took to get the man to speak at all,) and then constantly thinking about Nalax and her "very important mission with Xigbar," and how secretive Saïx kept it (he wouldn't call it worrying, of course - just an overload of thoughts about the subject;) and not to mention what Saïx had told him that morning. To put it simply, Axel was ready to call it a day and all but fly into bed.

_Oh, pillows. How I miss you…_ he thought with another yawn.

Something caught his eye on the right. He was walking on an outdoor pathway, and there was a staircase that led down to a small balcony, which was otherwise inaccessible. He recognized this balcony from a while ago. And the same person that had been sitting there then was now dangling her legs over the edge, eyes on the starless sky. With a smirk and a sense of déjà vu, he went to sit next to her.

But, just like last time, she was speaking to no one in particular, and he found himself absent-mindedly stopping in the middle of the staircase to listen.

Nalax sighed. "I'm sorry, Lini. I know I made you a promise." She pulled her knees up to her chest. "But I just made a promise to Axel, too. And I… I don't know what to do. I've been putting your promise off, trying to look for his. And… you know… I realize _now_ how impossible my promise to you was. Even if I did find our heart, you're already… gone. The only one who'd be able to use it… would be me." Her knees came away from her chest, legs dangling again. "But it would be so selfish of me to find my own heart, when I promised Axel I'd find his." Axel breathed deeply. "Death is… death. If I ever find out how to make up for causing yours… then I'd do it. But the present needs to be more important than the past. …I'll do whatever it takes to find his heart. I guess… I'd do anything for him. I don't understand why…." She was silent for a while after that.

Axel stepped off the staircase, and whispered, "Hey there, weirdo."

She gasped and turned to face him. "Axel-"

He smirked at her and moved down the rest of the stairs to sit next to her. "You're back."

"…You heard all of it again, didn't you?" she muttered bashfully.

"Most of it, I guess," he said, and paused for a moment. "Sorry. My body wouldn't move - had to listen." He swallowed, feeling tense as he was sure she was. "Did you… really mean that?"

Her hands began to absently fiddle with themselves. "Mean what?"

"What you said last," he muttered slowly, "about me."

Her eyes still scanned the stars. He would have thought it looked like she was searching for something, but it wasn't the sky that she was focused on. "Yes," she replied, eyes moving across the barren sky. She brushed a hand through her hair. "You are… a friend to me."

He couldn't contain a smirk. "Well, that _better _be true," he said matter-of-factly.

She looked up at him, confused.

"Because… you're a friend to me, too." If he could feel, he knew it would have been a very happy-like moment.

Nalax smiled widely at him - maybe he would have felt what she must have been feeling, as portrayed in her smile.

He remembered something then. Something that Saïx had told him when he first got his missions for the day. And, as if he could feel, he felt the happy moment shatter. He sighed. Considering the mission, he needed to tell her about it - at least enough that wouldn't get him in trouble while still keeping her in the loop. "And it's because we're friends that I'm going to tell you this."

Her smile fell by a fraction. "What is it?"

"I'm leaving tomorrow on a long-term mission." He avoided her gaze, looking out at the sky instead. Like she had been, it wasn't the sky he was focused on. "I don't know how long we'll be."

"We?"

"Marluxia, Larxene, Zexion, Lexeaus, Vexen, and I - we're all going to the Organization's _other_ castle." He would have shuddered. He'd been there before, and it was a large, strange, empty place. He'd decided long ago that he just didn't like it there.

"You're going to Castle Oblivion?" she asked, almost incredulous. "Why?"

"Well, that's one thing that I can't spill. Xemnas's orders," he muttered, scratching the back of his head. "Wait, you… know about Castle Oblivion?"

"As much as any Nobody's allowed to know. It's pretty secretive."

"Yeah, it is."

"…Are you worried?"

He looked at her then - _she _certainly was. "About what?"

"Marluxia and Larxene."

He chuckled. "You still remember that?" When she didn't answer, he continued without the smirk. "I told you it wasn't anything to get worked up about. Luxord said it was just a rumor, after all…."

"But… wouldn't this be their perfect chance?" she said. "To try and take over?"

He stared - she had a good point. After a moment, he said the only thing he could. "Just don't worry about it, okay? Everything will be fine."

After another quiet moment, she nodded. "…I'm going to miss you."

He had to admit that he wished he could say the same. "I…" he whispered. "I don't like that I'll be away either." He looked out at the night sky again. "But I promise I'll be back. And when I get back, I'll take you out for ice cream, alright?"

She smiled reluctantly. "Okay."

Axel couldn't contain his yawn. "Well, get some rest," he told her. "Okay, Nalax?"

"I will," she said, standing.

He followed suit, and then watched as she walked, slower than she usually went, in the direction of her room. His brow furrowed. _Is it possible for a Nobody to miss someone? _he thought, not sure whether he meant Nalax or himself. After another yawn, he shook the thought away. _Of course not. We have no hearts to miss with._ With that, he walked up the staircase and went towards his own room for a long night's sleep. He'd be leaving in the morning.

And for what must have been the millionth time in the last week, he couldn't suppress the thoughts of her finding his heart.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm so sorry I've been away so long! I haven't even thought about KH since I posted last. I love this story so much and I really want to keep writing it, I just need to find inspiration for it. I'm not kidding, **reviews** would help tremendously - I need to know what you guys think.  
I wasn't going to post this until I'd got the chapter after it done, but I was rereading the whole thing and really felt that I needed to post this. Hope you all like it. 3


	22. 22

**A/N:** Back into the swing of things, I do believe. I've written two more after this one, and I've gotten a lot more plotted out. My sudden inspiration? Buying Re:CoM :)

* * *

Axel was gone by the time Nalax awoke the next morning. She had wandered the halls around his assigned area, peeked into his room, and when she didn't find him there, inquired about him in the Gray Room.

"He's on a mission," Saïx told her, his gaze nowhere near her. "You should be too."

Sighing quietly, she nodded.

"You'll be with Roxas today, collecting hearts in Twilight Town," he went on. "Leave as soon as you are ready."

She turned, finding Roxas sitting blankly on one of the couches. This day was already off to a bad start. She knew she had no reason to feel uneasy about the new addition, but she couldn't help it - something was off about him. Or, more specifically, something was different. And whatever it was made her feel uncomfortable whenever she was around him.

He looked up at her when she approached him. "Ready to go?" he said, though she could tell he didn't completely know what he was doing.

She nodded, and opened a corridor for him. He went through, casting an awkward glance towards her as he did. She followed.

"So," he said once they stepped onto the pavement of an alley in Twilight Town. "I guess I'll be doing all the work here, right?"

She squinted at him. Was he assuming she was incompetent? Suggesting he was better than her? Or was he just being ignorant? She refrained from feeling offended, but the comment didn't exactly make her feel any better about the boy. She shook her head, walking towards the sandlot in order to find some heartless upon which she could demonstrate her worth to him.

As soon as her foot touched soil, three appeared. Roxas took his keyblade out, but she held her hand out, making him reluctantly relax his stance. A heartless lunged for her, and, wasting no time, she lunged back with her daggers, almost instantly releasing its heart. She quickly took out the other two, and then turned to face Roxas.

His brows were lifted, and he nodded in approval before his face showed the pretense of confusion. "I was told that only the keyblade can send hearts back to Kingdom Hearts…"

"It's part of my power," she explained quietly, letting her daggers disappear. "It has nothing to do with my weapons. …I could probably release the hearts without them, but I've never tried."

He nodded, taking it all in. "Well, why don't you try now? I can be your back-up if it doesn't work out."

She stared at him, and then allowed a small smile. "Sounds good."

Maybe she could get used to him.


	23. 23

Nalax wondered if this was how all of her missions would go until Axel got back. All Saïx seemed to give her since he'd left with the others for Castle Oblivion were heart-collecting missions with Roxas. He wouldn't even tell her why it was so important for _her_ to start collecting hearts all of a sudden - the Organization had always known she was capable of it (though she wasn't as efficient as a Keyblade wielder, of course) but had never utilized it before. They had seemed to be simply leaving the job to Sora, and then to Roxas when he came along.

In fact, they hadn't really used any of her powers for the good of the Organization until quite recently. Her fourteen-hour mission with Xigbar had been the first time they'd put her powers to good use. The reason it had been so important was because they were testing her; Xigbar had been told to get her to manipulate the inhabitants of Beast's Castle - to fill them with anger and hatred and get them to turn on each other, and then to gradually turn it all around and put things back to normal, all without letting anyone be aware of her presence, and all while destroying any Heartless in the vicinity to keep them out of that way and release their hearts. They'd wanted to see if she pull it off, and to make sure she was as useful as they had guessed.

She did pull it off, and she didn't let them down. She did exactly as she was told. But it wasn't easy; she wasn't used to that type of multi-tasking, that level of focus, and she'd almost dropped into a coma by the end of the mission. Xigbar was able to keep her from doing so, and all ended up being well, but Nalax couldn't help but feel like things were going to change now that the Organization had started to truly use her. She knew they were now going to push her to figure out all of her limits, and stretch her until they had discovered every branch of her powers.

She couldn't complain. After all, it was the most useful that she'd felt since joining them. It told her that they needed her, if only a little. It told her that they trusted her enough to give her such responsibility on her missions. It all actually made her smile.

But still one question lingered: why now?

Roxas and she were in Traverse Town for this mission, and it hadn't been all that exciting. The Heartless were everywhere, but there was no real challenge, and she hadn't been up to testing herself to make it more so. Roxas had told her he'd help her, of course, so it wouldn't be too exhausting, but there was something about discovering things about her powers that made her not even want to try. She told herself she was just too worn out.

Roxas took out the last Heartless in the square and turned to her. "…Anywhere we haven't tried yet?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Well, does that mean we're done here?"

Nalax stretched her arms up and let out a long breath. "It should be good enough. …I don't think I could take anymore."

He cocked his head to the side. "Shouldn't you be used to this, though? You've been in the Organization way longer than I have."

"True," she said hesitantly. They didn't usually exchange so many words - it was beginning to feel uncomfortable. "I have been here longer, but I'd never been on a mission to collect hearts until yesterday, with you."

"Oh," he said.

She looked at him for a moment as a thought struck her. Was this all being put on her now because of Roxas? It had been 24 days since he'd joined, and most of that time had to be spent teaching him (and, technically, teaching him again.) But now the kid had the hang of things, for the most part. And now the two of them were on heart duty together. It seemed like, maybe, there was a better explanation out there, but this one seemed to fit for the most part.

He stared back at her. "…You okay?"

She started. "Yes," she said shortly, and began to walk away from the square towards the shadows of an alley.

He caught up to her quickly. "Could I ask you a question?"

Hesitantly, she nodded.

"Do you have a heart?"

Nalax stopped to stare more intently at him, trying to gauge his motives and failing. Nobodies were hard to read. "What do you mean?"

"Well," he said, scratching the back of his head nervously. "You don't act like all the rest of us. From what I've been told, we only pretend to have hearts, while we really don't, and can't feel emotion and all that…. But sometimes - I mean, sometimes it seems like you're not pretending."

Her mouth twisted in thought. "I guess I may come off that way… but it's only an illusion. I'm a Nobody like you. I don't have a heart. But you've seen my element - I can simulate a heart, and emotions, and feelings. Sometimes I can't control it. It's like I'm simulating emotions without meaning too, inside of me."

He tilted his head to the side again, this time in confusion. After a moment he shook his head. "I guess I understand."

She watched his face, but nothing changed. She wasn't sure why she'd even bothered to tell him; it wasn't like it mattered all that much for him to know. _Oh, well,_ she thought as she opened a corridor to darkness. _We're Nobodies._

_It's not like we matter, anyways._


	24. 24

"Your mission today takes place on a new world," said Saïx. "We know enough about it through what we've been told, so this is not a reconnaissance mission. We need the two of you to go and check if there are Heartless present."

The fact that he hadn't yet told them exactly which world it was almost made Nalax apprehensive. "What world is it?"

"Atlantica," Saïx told her with the faintest hint of a smirk. "Upon arriving, magic will activate that will help you two to blend in. This means you can-"

"Wait, _Atlantica?_" asked Nalax, not betraying her surprise. To this, Saïx merely raised an eyebrow at her, so she went on: "We can't go to Atlantica - if we're without our cloaks for a period of time, we'll be taken by the darkness."

"Do not make me repeat myself, Nalax."

Roxas chimed in. "Why wouldn't we have our cloaks?"

"Because Atlantica is an underwater world," she explained, thinking it through as she spoke. "The only magic anyone knows of that would allow outsiders to breathe there transforms your body and makes you blend in with the locals. You and I would become mermaids. That magic transforms your clothes too, so we wouldn't have our - oh."

Saïx smirked in full. "Yes, the magic transforms your clothes. As I was saying…"

She could feel the pretense of embarrassment hit her like a brick. She'd never been that dense before, so it certainly couldn't have been a good sign. She wondered vaguely if it had something to do with her missing Axel.

"…because of this magic, you can freely speak with the denizens to further your investigation. However, do not waste too much time there. Both of you have more important missions waiting for you afterwards."

Nalax and Roxas both nodded and turned away. She opened a corridor of darkness, and with a subtle, but deep, breath, made her way to Atlantica with Roxas close behind.

It didn't take long upon arriving for Roxas to ask another question: "What did you mean back there - 'taken by the darkness'?"

She glanced at him, immediately noting his bare half-boy, half-shark body. "No one's ever told you about that?" She looked down at her own body: the top half normal, yet with a pink sort of bikini, her bottom half akin to a pale pink salmon. She felt naked and immodest.

Roxas shook his head, still watching her for an answer.

Wrapping her arms around herself, she looked back at him. "Nobodies are without hearts, but we still, in a way, exist," she explained, quiet enough for only Roxas to catch her words. "Because of that, we are on the very edge of darkness. So when we pass through a Corridor of Darkness, which would corrupt any person with a heart, we are very vulnerable to the darkness and can easily be taken over by it. Meaning, we would become its mindless slaves, much like the Dusks we command. The cloaks that Xemnas gave to all of us aren't just for unity - they're to protect us from the Dark Realm, and allow us to use it freely."

"I get it," said Roxas. "That's why you freaked out earlier."

She nodded stiffly and turned away from him to take in their surroundings. No Heartless in sight, but that didn't necessarily mean that they weren't around. "Let's go. Do you know how to swim?"

"Yeah, alternate arms and - hey! I'm a shark!"

She offered an amused smile. "Swimming is a little different in here, from what I've heard. My best advice is to act like a fish."

"And you're a - a salmon?"

"Mhmm."

"…I think sharks eat salmon, don't they?"

"What's your point?"

"Oh, no point."

* * *

A/N: Sorry for such a long wait. I hope you guys are still with me! Here's a little comedic relief moment before the next chapter... :) (which will be posted **tomorrow.**)


	25. 25

"With… Demyx?"

"Yes," said Saïx. He promptly turned away from Nalax.

"…You know he won't like that," she said quietly, not knowing what else she could say.

"He never does," he said simply. "And that is never of any concern to me. Find him quickly and get to work. You still have one more mission left today."

She did as she was told, focusing on blocking out her worries as she made her way to Demyx's room. A mission with Demyx - after Axel had told her that he had changed, and then given her the impression that he intended to completely forget about Demyx because of it. She told herself that she didn't want to think about it.

His door was open when she approached, and he was sitting cross-legged in the middle of his room, sitar in his lap. He looked up when he sensed her.

"We have a mission together," she told him quietly.

"Ugh, you're kidding," he said, expressing only a feigned irritation. His sitar disappeared.

"We have to find a mansion in Twilight Town and report back its location…"

He yawned and stretched, and then quickly stood. "That's better than I expected, I guess," he said in a sigh. His tendency towards drama certainly hadn't changed. "Are we leaving now?"

She nodded.

Demyx made to leave the room, and, almost awkwardly, she stepped out of the doorway to allow him space. He then closed his door and opened a Corridor. "Go on," he said in a bored tone, motioning towards the portal. "Ladies first, ladies first."

She entered and stepped out into the Sandlot of Twilight Town, Demyx not far behind. "It should be somewhere outside of town," she muttered, and he nodded and led the way.

"I don't get why they need_ two _members just to find some mansion in a dinky little town," he complained. "It's not like it's all that difficult. I mean, c'mon, even _me_ - I don't need a partner to do this kinda mission."

Nalax said nothing to this, trying hard not to take his ramble personally. Her mind just couldn't fathom how the person she had thought to be the most friendly of the entire Organization, how her very first friend upon coming here, could have changed in such ways. The things that had changed, like his friendliness and his caring, hurt; and then there were things, like his love for faking emotion, that had remained the same and now served to haunt her about the missing friendship.

She wanted to know why it happened. What had caused him to stop caring about Axel and her? There had to be a catalyst. She just didn't know how to ask.

And even though Axel didn't, she wanted Demyx back.

"So…" she said, barely loud enough. They were in the middle of the Tram Common by now. "Where have you been lately?"

He looked back at her with a strange expression. "What do you mean by _that?_ I've been where everyone else has been."

"No, I meant…" She hesitated. There was a coil of nervousness in her stomach that kept trying to form. "I meant… why haven't I seen you? We used to sit in the courtyard together…"

He scoffed. "Ha, yeah, those were the old days."

"What do you mean?" she asked him as they entered a hole in the wall that led to a small forest.

"I mean _the old days_. Which means that was then, this is now, and all that."

"…But we're… friends, aren't we?"

His eyes narrowed and he let out a bitter chuckle. "_Friends_," he spat. "I should have known better than to fall for all that. It's kind of funny - looking back on it now, it should have been obvious what you were doing… but then to suck Axel in like that and get him to turn on me, after we'd been friends since before you ever toddled along? I didn't see that one coming at all. What a fast ball."

"What are you talking about, Demyx?" She tried not to let her eyes betray her hurt, but he wasn't looking at her anyways. He was cold and far and away.

He let himself finish before he bothered to answer her. "And then what perfect timing, for Roxas to be there to replace me. It's all pretty funny," he laughed. His face changed very suddenly from bitterly amused to an unnatural sort of cold. "Saïx finally told me about how you are. I don't know why I didn't see it sooner - your power gives you away, completely! And then I suppose I should have known that Axel would take to you - he has that 'gift for manipulation,' too. In fact, Saïx said he wouldn't be surprised if Axel was the only one to come back from Castle Oblivion."

It took her a moment for her to realize she was shaking. "You think I've only pretended to be your friend all this time? You think I've been using my _powers_ to make you and Axel like me?"

"Duh," said Demyx. They were coming out of the forest now. "So you can stop with the whole pity thing now. You may be a better faker than me, but I still feel nothing for you. So, uh… heh - I'm off the hook."

Though her vision had begun to blur, she could still make out the mansion laid out before them. It was over.

Without another word, she opened a Corridor of Darkness where she stood, and left Demyx standing there in front of the gate. She reappeared somewhere in the Castle That Never Was, and in the time it took to get from there to where Saïx was in the Grey Room, she had expelled all of the synthetic emotions from her being.

* * *

**A/N:** Next chapter will be up Friday or Saturday. :)


	26. 26

Nalax's last mission of the day was simply another heart collecting mission with Roxas. Nothing really was said - even if he asked her a question, she didn't give much in the form of an answer. In the back of her mind, she remembered herself as she was when she had first come to the Organization: blank, cold, and silent, as emotionless (both in heart and in appearance) as a Dusk. And she remembered there being something blissful about not having to worry, and not having to act - something so easy about just not connecting with anyone or anything.

She could feel it returning. And she figured that, for now, that was okay. But she certainly didn't want to be this way when Axel returned. In fact, she almost felt bad about subjecting Roxas to it. Almost.

So for the first hour or so of their Heartless sweep, Roxas did most of the talking. After a while, though, he figured out it that wasn't getting them anywhere, so for another hour, neither of them said anything at all.

They were in the shopping district when Roxas finally spoke again. "Wait a minute," he said, and stopped in his tracks. His expression of surprise was very nearly genuine. "Do you feel that?"

She raised her brow at him.

"I feel something really weird here. Like there's something swimming in my chest," he said, looking at the ground around his feet in wonder. "I didn't feel it until I got right here, and now it won't stop." His face then showed disappointment. "Oh… it's gone now. But what was that?"

"…Somebody made a promise here," said Nalax softly. "A very strong promise."

"How do you know that?" asked Roxas. His face conveyed confusion, and more surprise.

She simply gave him a small smile, and then continued walking as his brow furrowed.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm sorry this one's so short, but on the bright side, I've got five more chapters already written after this one. I'm gonna try to keep them a little spread out, but I'll try to get chapter 27 posted on Monday. Thank you all for sticking around - you've no idea how much it means to me!

Tell me what you thought in a review! Your input honestly helps, and always inspires me to write more.


	27. 27

**Disclaimer:** There are a few lines that I used that are from 358/2 Days - these words are copyright to Disney/Square-Enix, as are every aspect of the Kingdom Hearts games that this story is based on.

**A/N:** Just a heads-up: updates will definitely get more spread out after this. I still have four chapters backlogged, so they'll be steady until there's one left. School is taking up all the space in my head right now. Hang in there, guys! I'm not giving up.

Love you all! Keep reviewing - they inspire me to write more.

* * *

She had to admit that Roxas was growing on her, though she still couldn't help but feel uncomfortable whenever he was around. But she never would have mentioned her promise to Axel to anyone who wasn't her friend, so that had to mean she considered him as such. And it was fine, really - after all, Axel liked Roxas enough, and probably considered him a friend, too, which meant that whether or not she liked the key blade-wielder, she would have to deal with him either way. At least she liked him.

She worried, though, that Roxas might not like her all that much. Their last mission had been spent with her saying no more than a sentence or two the entire time, while he had been trying to converse with her all the while. Looking back, she knew how that must have seemed to Roxas. Maybe reverting back to how she was weeks and weeks ago wasn't such a good idea, in that regard.

Sitting on one of the couches in the Grey Area, she had decided to try and remedy her behavior when a pair of voices reached her ears.

"I'm pretty sure - I overheard Saïx and Xemnas talking about it. Apparently it was pretty intense!"

"So he killed someone?"

Nalax looked up from her journal. Xaldin and Demyx had just walked into the Grey Area.

"Well, no, I mean - I don't know, man!" said the shorter of the two, throwing his hands up.

Xaldin stopped and turned to him as Roxas entered the room. "…Then what in blazes did happen?"

"Hey, don't look at me, man! I only found out a few minutes ago," Demyx replied, obviously intimidated by the taller, wider Nobody in front of him.

Xaldin rolled his eyes and left the room, and she watched as Roxas walked up to Xigbar, who had been standing in the middle of the room, pretending not to pay attention to anything that had just happened. She hoped Roxas would ask him the same question that she wanted to ask.

"Is everything okay?" he asked him tentatively. She could tell, however, that it wasn't striking him as odd as it was striking her.

"Okay?" said Xigbar, his grin out of place. "You wish. Word is at least one of the folks we sent to Castle Oblivion has been terminated."

A cold chill ran down her spine.

"Terminated?" asked Roxas. He was visibly shaken, but holding on to the hope that he was wrong. "You mean…"

Saïx chose this moment to leave his place at the window and remind Roxas of his mission. Neither Roxas nor Nalax paid attention to this. Instead, Roxas turned to him and asked, "Is it true?"

"That's no concern of yours," said Saïx.

"But what about Axel?" Roxas threw at him. She vaguely wondered if he could read her mind.

A cloudy sense of worry and hurt settled in her chest, though she knew better than to feel that way about this. After all, it could have been anyone. Why _would_ it have been Axel? Axel was strong and cunning - too much so to go and get himself terminated, and she knew it. But she couldn't help it; she was worried. She was so very worried.

"Who knows?" said Saïx, giving them all the impression that he didn't care in the least. "Perhaps he is among the lost. What does it matter to you?"

"But…" said Roxas, head falling to his chest.

Nalax realized then that she was standing, journal lying forgotten on the floor, though no one else did.

"Nah, no buts, kid," said Xigbar, waving his hand as if to dismiss the subject. "There's work to be done. Go get ready." Xigbar and Saïx both went to stand near the window, waiting on Roxas to pull himself together.

He looked up and his gaze fell on Nalax, who fell back onto the couch, unable to feel anything anymore. She did not lean over to retrieve her journal. She simply sat there, thinking a hundred miles an hour. Instead of getting ready, like he had been told to do, Roxas walked over and sat next to her on the couch.

"Nalax," he said after a long moment. She didn't acknowledge him, but he continued anyway. "…What happens when someone dies?"

She swallowed and looked away from him. "They disappear," she said quietly. She could feel Roxas tense up in the air they shared. "But their heart goes to Kingdom Hearts."

"…What about someone who doesn't have a heart? Does some part of us remain?"

"We don't exist, Roxas," she said, even quieter than before. But she knew he could still hear her. "There's nothing for us to leave behind."

Roxas was very still. After a moment, he said, "So… the person at Castle Oblivion-"

"Yes," she said. "They're gone."

"And we'll never see them again?"

She shook her head.

Roxas stood then, and on unsteady legs, walked away to leave for his mission.

She watched him go.


	28. 28

Roxas came back from his mission thrown over Xigbar's shoulder, unconscious. From what she overheard Xigbar telling Saïx, the "kid" had been distracted and flighty for the majority of the mission, and had kept talking about the Castle Oblivion team. Right as they were about to return to the castle, Roxas had swayed and fainted. Xigbar admitted he didn't really know why it happened, but Saïx didn't show any concern on the matter like he had the first time. In fact, he acted like he had expected it.

Number XIII was taken to his room, and when Saïx came back some time later, he approached Nalax.

"Number Zero," he greeted brusquely.

She turned her face up to him, but did not greet him in return or stand from the couch. Her journal lay open in her lap once again, and this time she had been writing in it. She nodded at him in a small movement.

"In light of this new development," he said, "you will be doing double the work for a while. All of your missions will be spent in the presence of the Heartless."

"So I'm not off duty this afternoon?" she asked him blankly.

Saïx scoffed. "You'll start your extra work tomorrow." He sent a lasting look at the pages of her journal, giving her the impression that he'd just read the entire thing without even moving, before he walked away.

Nalax stared after him. There were so many questions flying around inside her mouth, on the very tip of her tongue, waiting to be asked, but she knew he'd never answer a single one of them. Saïx had a thing for keeping topics on a need-to-know basis around his subordinates - and even with those above him in rank. Nalax had witnessed on several occasions the tightening of his jaw that signaled an effort not to speak while he was talking to Xemnas or Xigbar. If either of them caught on to what she was seeing, though, they never acknowledged it. As much as Saïx was loyal to Xemnas, he certainly seemed to be working for his own one-man team most of the time.

But Nalax figured that maybe Saïx was really _only_ working for himself, and that his views just happened to coincide with Xemnas' quite a lot. It would make sense - at least to her.

It wasn't like it was a bad thing anyways (aside from his turning Demyx against her, of course.)

Nalax moved her gaze back to her journal. This particular notebook had all the information she'd gathered about the various members of the Organization, which, all things considered, was fairly extensive. Some entries were even extensive enough that they included statistics and bits of information from before the members became Nobodies: information about Isa, Braig, Even, Ienzo, and so on. It helped her understand her comrades, and it helped to explain the ways that they fought. Not always useful, but important enough that she had it all written down.

Most of her other journals, however, were about hearts, and Heartless, and Kingdom Hearts; most of which came from her own research and discoveries while "in the field." Some of it, though, came from prior knowledge that she didn't quite know the origin of. She could remember (though she knew they weren't her own memories) a man's voice teaching her, and a voice similar to hers asking the man questions. She couldn't remember the man's face, or even his name, but she remembered everything he'd said about hearts.

She didn't let herself think about the mysterious man, however. She had more pressing matters on her mind.

She had journals upon journals piled in her room that were dedicated to studying hearts, but even with the journals, she felt that she didn't know enough. Rather, she didn't know enough in _practice_ - she didn't have her powers completely down. She could create emotions and synthetic hearts and implant them into a person, she could tap into the emotions of humans, she could release captive hearts for Kingdom Hearts, but she couldn't do all that she needed to do in order to find _Axel's_ heart.

She knew it was in her powers, though. She knew that if she could just tap into them, she could do it. She needed practice. She needed to train herself. If Axel was still alive - _of course he is, of course he is_ - then she needed to find his heart fast, before it was too late - _he's okay, he'll be okay, he will, he will, he will._

But how could she find the time to train herself? Saïx wanted her on double heart duty now that Roxas was temporarily incapacitated. Even with the mission schedule that she was accustomed to, there was hardly enough time to really train.

She looked at Saïx, who was still standing by the window, staring up at Kingdom Hearts. And she got an idea.

* * *

**A/N:** Next chapter will be up next Friday night. Thank you guys for sticking around - I'm really excited for you to see what all comes next. Tell me what you thought of the chapter!


	29. 29

"I'm not open to any sorts of compromise," Saïx told Nalax, not even bothering to look at her.

"Hear me out anyways," she told him. She felt brave enough about the moment, but at the same time, she'd never done anything like this before. She'd always been the one to keep herself out of the way. She was an important tool to the Organization, she knew, and that had always been enough for her, so she'd never been driven to ask any other member for… well, anything. But this was important - important enough that she didn't mind being a bother to a member, especially _Saïx_, to get it.

He was looking at her at this point, his gaze fixed and testing. "Was that a command?"

"No," she said softly. "It was a request - but whether you give me permission to or not, I will speak."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "And you think that means I will listen?"

"Please, Saïx," she said, softer than before, but with no less confidence. "This isn't anything that will hinder you or the Organization. If it goes well enough - and I'm positive it will - it will help considerably."

The eyebrow did not move. If anything, it lifted higher. "Make it worth my time."

"I'm asking permission to collect hearts on a come-and-go basis."

"…Explain."

"I'm asking that I not be restrained within the mission-structure - meaning, for example, that I'm not told to go to six different worlds to collect ten hearts on each world every day. I'm asking for free reign to leave and return to the castle at my leisure, granted that I spend all of my time outside the castle collecting hearts."

"That hardly seems equivalent to doing missions," he stated. "The point of an Organization is structure."

"But I'm not technically part of the Organization, am I?"

Saïx's eyes narrowed.

She twisted her mouth, attempting to belay to him that she hadn't really meant that (though she certainly did feel that way.) "I plan to be away collecting hearts from dawn until dusk every day."

Both eyebrows raised this time, but he quickly lost the expression and glanced out the window for a moment. When his eyes locked once more with hers, they were cold and suspicious. "Why?"

"To send hearts to Kingdom Hearts…"

He scoffed, cutting her off. "Why would you rather work yourself to exhaustion each day than simply take missions from me, as per the usual?"

"This is more efficient," she told him quietly, being careful not to skirt too far around his inquiry. "It's better."

"Better for whom?"

"…Everyone."

"Including you."

"Yes. Kingdom Hearts' completion will bring me my heart too."

"You should know."

She looked up at him questioningly. She knew what he wanted to hear - that she wasn't really going to be collecting hearts, but doing something counter-productive to the Organization - but he wouldn't hear it. Mostly because it wasn't true.

"You have another reason for this. It makes no sense for you to want to go above and beyond our expectations simply to benefit the Organization. You are useful, but not _that_ useful. There is an ulterior motive - that much is obvious."

She swallowed, and let her eyes move to the window - not seeing beyond it, but watching the daily activity of the members in its reflection. "I want to better myself."

Saïx turned his gaze back to the stars. She fashioned that he felt slightly triumphant.

"I want to tap into my powers… and learn to use them all to their fullest extent…. I want to be stronger in my abilities. This would give me the means to do it…"

"…The Organization comes first."

"Yes," she said, looking back up at him. "I know. But even while training myself, I would still be collecting more hearts this way than by any other. Like I said… it is better for everyone."

His gaze held steady as it continued to look upon Kingdom Hearts. She couldn't see him resolving to her compromise, but the fact that he was quiet was a comforting thought in itself. He at least was considering it.

"You're much bolder than we initially thought," he admitted blankly, but his eyes betrayed some pretense of feeling. "I don't pretend to be ignorant to your intentions for this training. I know your goal."

A soft sort of fear lanced through her stomach.

"And I don't pretend not to have my own personal goals," he said, lower. "But keep in mind that we are all working towards the same goal. Kingdom Hearts is our only guarantee that it will be reached."

She swallowed.

"…I will bring your proposition to Xemnas. Expect nothing more from me." And Saïx left.

She let out a breath, and rested her forehead on the windowpane, her eyes trained on the heart-shaped moon in the sky.


	30. 30

_The setting fades from black into veiled color: there was a circular office with tan-colored walls, a desk in the center, with piles and piles of books and scientific instruments all over. There was a man sitting at the desk with light blond hair in a white lab coat, bent over his work._

_A girl walked into the office, and tutted as she saw the mess that she would have to reorganize. But she smiled anyways and sat in the chair on the side of the desk._

_The man looked up, but his face was blurred and unrecognizable. The girl didn't seem to notice._

"__," said the man. Did the girl notice that he hadn't used his voice then? "You're early. I didn't expect you for some time yet."_

"_Yes," she said. She hadn't noticed anything off about the man, whose voice sounded like it was in a distant place. "There weren't many people in the market district at all today. The man who sold me these said everyone was off working today." She held out something for him to take, but there was nothing in her hand._

_The man didn't notice this. He went through the motions of taking whatever it was, as if they were miming. There was a smile in his voice as he said, "Ah, you are ceaselessly helpful. I've been craving _ _ all day."_

_The girl smiled at him, but before her features could be detailed, her face blurred as well. Her voice became a distant memory, and the setting faded into black._

_When the blackness was gone, the girl was in a fissure, talking to someone who couldn't be seen. Her voice was completely gone, but the someone that she was speaking with could be heard louder and clearer than before. It was the same voice, but definitely a different person._

"_I don't have a clue," said the voice. Its volume grew deafening. _

"_I just woke up here. _

"_I have all these fuzzy memories, but I don't know what they mean. _

"_There's a name that keeps popping into my head, but it's not mine…"_


	31. 31

The next morning, as she turned on the lights upon waking, they seemed brighter than normal. Where this cheered her considerably, the air she breathed seemed heavy at the same time, and she had to wonder if her powers were somehow manifesting into her environment, or if, perhaps, she was simply projecting her anxiety on the walls.

She hoped Saïx would deliver her good news; she needed to build herself up, and she needed to discover the extent of her powers. More importantly, she needed to be able to find Axel's heart, and then her own. It was all they could hope for as Nobodies. She was beginning to think that finding their hearts was the sole purpose that Nobodies existed - what other thing, besides maybe companionship, could they possibly have to live for?

Nalax rubbed her eyes, and then her temples. Not the best way to get one out of bed in the morning. Now she had a headache.

She stood up and stared around at her room. All white walls and pastel-ed decorum, she considered herself lucky that the surroundings actually suited her. It was a comforting thing to wake up to. Although, she didn't feel exactly comforted today - she had to know what Xemnas' verdict was.

So she dressed herself in her usual garb, including, of course, the Organization cloak, and then left her room. She figured Saïx would be in the Grey Area, where he usually was at the window. When she arrived, however, this was not so. She took his place instead, watching the stillness of the night sky and awaiting Saïx's arrival.

He finally showed up an hour later, coming to stand behind her. She turned around and stared up at him questioningly.

Saïx smirked, though it only barely reached his eyes. "Eager, are you? Or is it impatience that made you wait for me at such an early hour?"

She ignored both questions. "Did Xemnas give you an answer?"

The smirk was gone, and he lifted a brow as he took his place at the window. "He told me to ask you this: how big does Kingdom Hearts seem to you?"

She looked up at said moon, as if considering the question. But really, she already knew the right answer. "Not big enough," she replied.

Saïx smirked again. "Well, then it seems that Xemnas has granted you permission to carry out your… long-term mission, of sorts."

A smile crept into her face, and she turned to leave.

"However," said Saïx darkly, causing her to turn and listen once more, "take care not to give in to all that lies outside this castle. Traitors are not tolerated in Organization XIII." There seemed to be a heavy weight to what he saying, as if, if she heard nothing else, she should hear these words now. "I pray that you do not learn that the hard way."

_As if you've ever prayed, Saïx, _she thought, but she couldn't ignore his advice. And she did take it as advice, rather than a threatening warning - something told her that Saïx did not truly expect her to turn coats, but felt that she be warned all the same, and that said a great deal to her. If trust was not everything to the success of the Organization, it was certainly still important.

And Nalax knew she was trusted.


End file.
